Gold Plunges 10% to Create Largest Weekly Drop in 43 Years, MakerDAO Founder Bets Against the Trend with 20x Leverage Long Position

Gold has plummeted over 10% this week, with a combined loss of $1.5 trillion in gold and silver within just 3 hours, marking the largest weekly decline since 1983; meanwhile, Rune Christensen, co-founder of Sky (formerly MakerDAO), not only stays put but also takes an opposite stance by opening a 20x leveraged gold long position, continuing his bet on a global stagflation cycle with a $20 million position.
(Background recap: Epic 6% single-day drop in gold sparks “hedge market crash”)
(Additional context: Why do we still confidently allocate to Bitcoin when gold leads the rally?)

Table of Contents

Toggle

• Rune doubles down: betting on gold rebound with 20x leverage
• Analyst: short-term volatility correction, not trend reversal
• Can Rune’s stagflation thesis come true?

Gold’s performance this week has been a “free fall,” with an intraday V-shape reversal on the 21st, dropping over 5% from that day’s high and breaking below the critical $4,500 support level; the week’s total decline exceeds 10%, approaching a seven-week low, marking the worst weekly drop since March 1983. Today, it even dipped to a low of $4,317, currently rebounding to $4,426.

Crypto analyst @AshCrypto warned on March 23 that within just 3 hours, the combined market cap of gold and silver evaporated by $1.5 trillion, surpassing Bitcoin’s total market cap, shattering their “safe haven” reputation.

Rune doubles down: betting on gold rebound with 20x leverage

Amid market panic, on-chain monitoring platform Onchain Lens captured a notable move: Sky (formerly MakerDAO) co-founder Rune Christensen chose to buy more, opening a 20x leveraged gold long position against the trend.

At the same time, he is actively closing his S&P 500 ($SP500) short positions and continues to buy and sell related positions through TWAP orders, indicating ongoing strategic adjustments.

This isn’t Rune’s first big move. On March 7, he opened a crude oil long position (CL + Brent) with $5.7 million. Despite currently showing a loss of over $500,000, he has not cut losses. Overall, Rune has about $20 million in positions across commodities and indices, with a core logic: the global economy is entering a stagflation cycle.

Analyst: short-term volatility correction, not trend reversal

In response to this sharp decline, futures and precious metals researcher Duan Enjian believes: there is indeed room for further downside, but it’s a “correction,” not the start of a new downtrend.

He points out that the market is currently re-pricing the Federal Reserve’s “higher for longer” interest rate policy. Rising US Treasury yields and a strengthening dollar are the most direct pressures on gold, which could test key support levels again.

However, this decline is not bottomless. Ongoing geopolitical tensions provide a safety net for gold—if rate hikes trigger a rapid drop, strategic buying will quickly support the price. Duan’s conclusion is that, in the short term, the market is likely to remain in a wide-range “top and bottom” oscillation.

Can Rune’s stagflation thesis come true?

From a 64% rise in 2025 and breaking $5,000 for the first time in January 2026, to a weekly drop of over 10% this week, gold’s sentiment has reversed dramatically within just a few months.

Rune’s choice to go long with 20x leverage during this plunge bets on: the Fed’s high interest rate policy will eventually crush economic growth, boost inflation expectations, and trigger a true stagflation environment, with gold as the primary beneficiary. But whether this logic will play out depends on upcoming employment data, inflation trends, and the Fed’s actual moves.

If the “wide-range oscillation” analyst’s view holds, the margin for error with 20x leverage is extremely limited; if stagflation arrives as expected, Rune could once again write a legendary contrarian play. The market’s answer will be revealed in the coming weeks.