As one of the most precious metals, gold ranks amongst the most tradable commodities across the world. It has a long history of use merely as a commodity and notably as a commodity money. For centuries, gold has been used as a medium of exchange, store of value, and a unit of account, perfectly meeting all the criteria for a proper money. It has always  perceived as symbol of status, wealth and prosperity.

As a commodity, and following the delink between gold and dollar in the early 1970s, gold has been used as a commodity traded globally, and was assigned a unique symbol, ‘XAU’, while traded against commodities and currencies.

Gold can be invested in directly by purchasing and holding the physical metal (for a future sale) or is used as an underlying in many financial products and instruments (gold products) including derivatives (gold derivatives), ETFs (gold ETFs), stocks (gold stocks), and bonds (gold bonds). This gives investors and other market participants exposure to the price movement of gold, as reflected in investment returns, hedging, or diversification.