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January 2026 roundup: gold off to a flying start

We are not even a full month into 2026 and gold’s price has already surged to all time highs, outperforming most stock markets and even the crypto market. At the same time, UK inflation has climbed back up, and geopolitical uncertainty continues to have a huge impact on markets.

Here’s a roundup of what happened in January, and why it matters.

Gold keeps growing!

Continuing its momentum from previous years, gold has already surged by over 14% since the start of the year, outperforming:

  • Most stock markets
  • Bitcoin and the broader cryptocurrency market
  • Bank savings and ISA accounts (by a long way!)

There are a host of factors driving gold’s price appreciation, all of which are fundamental long term in nature. 

Inflation and the debasement of fiat currencies like the pound sterling are the primary drivers, but geopolitical challenges are also a tailwind for gold’s price to surge as people and institutions look for a “safe haven” hedge. 

Given the deep, long term nature of these drivers, gold’s incredible growth so far in 2026 could be just the start.

Institutions openly bullish on gold 

In January, several major financial institutions became openly bullish on gold. Most notably, Goldman Sachs which raised its medium-term gold price forecasts, citing:

  • Persistent inflation
  • Continued central bank gold accumulation
  • Geopolitical uncertainty

And it’s not only Goldman Sachs that believe in gold’s long term upward trajectory. Central banks have signalled that they will continue to buy gold throughout 2026.

A recent World Gold Council survey revealed that 95% of central banks expect to increase their gold reserves throughout 2026. 

When major institutions are openly bullish and buying gold in record amounts, it’s worth taking notice.

Tariffs & Trade Tensions

January also saw more noise around tariffs and global trade tensions.

Continued geopolitical tensions, coupled with tariff threats between major economies has created a sense of uncertainty, contributing to higher costs for goods, supply chain disruptions, and concerns about slower global growth.

Historically, geopolitical uncertainty has always served as a tailwind for gold as people look for a ‘safe haven’ investment.

Why? Because gold can’t be printed out of thin air like money can, it can’t go bankrupt or get diluted like stocks can, and it has been used successfully for thousands of years as the world’s safe haven asset during times of economic uncertainty.

Inflation back up 

Surprise, surprise! UK inflation is back up to 3.4%. This is well above expectations and significantly higher than the Bank of England’s 2% target.

So what does this mean for your money?

  • The money in your bank account is losing purchasing power
  • The interest offered by savings and ISA accounts is barely enough to keep up
  • The more of your savings you hold in pounds, the more you are affected by rising inflation

Conversely, owning assets like gold means inflation works in your favour. Why? Because gold can’t be printed out of thin air like the pound can. This means it can be very rewarding to hold your savings in gold during times of inflation to preserve and even grow your wealth.

So What Does This Mean for 2026?

January didn’t create new trends, it confirmed existing ones.

  • Inflation isn’t going away
  • Geopolitical uncertainty is a tailwind for gold
  • Major institutions are openly bullish on gold
  • And most importantly… gold is growing

It’s important to remember that nothing ever goes up in a straight line, and gold could very well face short term price corrections. However, the long-term drivers of gold’s price appreciation aren’t fading, they’re strengthening.

And with UK inflation climbing back up, the question more and more Brits should be asking now is why save in pounds when you can save in gold? 

At TallyMoney, we don’t think your savings should silently shrink while you’re busy living your life. January has been a reminder that owning gold is more important now than ever.

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Real World Examples

  1. Fancy a coffee? Use your TallyMoney Mastercard. Boom – paid. (Yes, you’re buying a flat white with gold. How amazing is that?)

  2. Need cash? Use any Mastercard ATM worldwide or spend across the globe. ZERO fees from us, ZERO markup. (When you spend or withdraw, your gold converts instantly at the global spot price. No catches, no hidden charges – just straight-up Mastercard exchange rates. Because your money shouldn’t cost you… more money.)

  3. Want some money back in your bank? Just tap ‘transfer’ in the app. (Though after a while, you might wonder why you’d want to…)

    Zero faff. Zero waiting. Zero fees when you spend tally.

Meet Cameron Parry

Meet the guy who wouldn’t accept being trapped in a ‘heads they win, tales we lose’ government-run monetary system that protects and benefits the financial institutions, to the detriment of the public. Where people’s deposits are constantly at risk, and losing value through inflation caused by central bankers and politicians.

If necessity is the mother of invention, then frustration may be the roommate’s cousin of motivation. In any case, he decided to stop getting mad and start a new monetary system with sound money. Where deposits serve the depositor, where savings build wealth for savers, and transactions are made in a familiar way. And he called it TallyMoney.

TallyMoney: Gold upgraded

With TallyMoney:

  • Your pounds instantly become physical gold (1 tally = 1mg of real gold)
    Stored in Swiss vaults (not under your bed)
  • Fully insured and allocated (actually yours, not a paper promise)
  • Spend it anywhere with your TallyMoney debit Mastercard
  • Transfer back to pounds instantly if needed (but why would you?)

We’re not anti-bank because it’s trendy. We’re anti-bank because the current system is rigged against you. Every day you leave money in a “savings” account, you’re funding their profits while your wealth evaporates.

Enter gold: the original currency

Why gold? It’s value is universally acknowledged.

  • It’s not controlled by any single government
  • It can’t be printed or manufactured
  • It’s actually scarce 
  • It requires effort to extract it 
  • It doesn’t rust, decay, or disappear
  • It has remarkable properties

So while the pound’s lost 50% of its value since 2004, gold’s grown by 146% in the last decade alone. While your bank savings got mugged by inflation, gold owners were laughing all the way to… well, not the bank.

But here’s the rub: Traditional gold ownership is a right pain. Buy physical bars? Prepare for storage fees that’ll make your eyes water, insurance premiums that never end, and a 5-10% haircut when you need to sell. Plus, try buying your weekly shop with a gold ingot.
Paper gold ETFs? They’re classed as Tier 3 assets for a reason – that’s financial speak for “risky as hell.” You don’t own gold, you own a promise. A tradeable IOU. And when everyone wants their gold at once? Good luck with that. So you’re stuffed either way: real gold that’s impossible to use, or fake gold that might not be there when you need it.
Until now.

The truth about inflation

How? Well, when politicians overspend (and they invariably do), they need more money to ‘stimulate the economy’. But raising taxes makes voters angry. So what do they do? They fire up the money printer, and boy do they love to print. To give you a sense of the scale, since 2015 the Bank of England has created £520bn out of thin air through “quantitative easing” (electronic money printing) plus £86bn in physical currency. 

Thing is, more pounds in circulation = each pound is worth less. Think about it: In 2004, £100 could buy you a decent night out, theatre tickets, and a cab home. Today? That same £100 barely covers the theatre tickets. Your money didn’t disappear – it was diluted, like someone’s been topping up your whisky with water when you weren’t looking.

The “2% inflation target” they bang on about? That’s them telling you they plan to steal 2% of your wealth every single year. And calling it healthy.

How TallyMoney actually works?

  1. First things first: we’ve got actual gold bullion* (none of that paper-promise nonsense) locked up tight in a Brinks vault in Switzerland. Yeah, those Brinks – the security legends who’ve been protecting valuables since Queen Victoria was on the throne.

  2. You send your pounds to your TallyMoney account (bye-bye, inflation-addicted fiat!).

  3. We use the global gold spot price to instantly turn your currency into its weight in gold. No hidden or fuzzy exchange rates, just the real market gold price + 1.49% gold purchase fee.

  4. Each milligram of your physical gold = 1 tally (we keep it decimal because no one wants to faff about with troy ounces – the specific unit for measuring gold).

  5. That’s it! Your app shows your balance in tally, but remember – those aren’t just numbers on a screen. That’s your solid gold, in milligrams, sitting pretty in Switzerland.
  6. You can now save and spend your gold as you see fit.

*All Tally gold is sourced from LBMA-accredited providers because we’re rebels with a cause… and standards. Instead of tracking the gold price per kg, your money is directly converted based on the real-time global gold spot price.

TallyMoney is 
real money

  1. Store of value
    Your gold sits in a Swiss vault (not getting ‘quantitatively eased’ away)
    Evidenced by 5,000 years of holding its value
    Can’t be inflated by government whim and fingers on the ‘currency print’ button
  2. Medium of exchange
    Spendable at 150+ million shops worldwide (thanks, Mastercard)
    Currency converts instantly at market rates (no sneaky margins)
    Moves as quickly as sending a text 
  3. Unit of account
    1 tally = 1mg of gold. Simple
    Stable enough to actually plan your future with
    Speaks every currency’s language (gold’s kind of a big deal everywhere)

This is why TallyMoney is so much more than just owning Gold – it’s a real financial revolution. We’re not just helping you own gold; we’re bringing back what money was always meant to be. Sound Money for a Brighter Future. Because your hard work and wealth deserve better than being slowly robbed by external forces.

We want you to have real money

  1. A store of value:
    Keeps its value over time
    Insulated from devaluation/inflation
    Actually rare and can’t be created out of thin air
  2. Medium of exchange:
    Easy to use for everyday transactions
    Widely accepted
    Can be transferred efficiently
  3. Unit of account:
    Works like a proper value-measuring stick (imagine if your ruler shrunk every year – mad, right?)
    Splits nicely into useful bits
    Reliable enough to plan your future with

Why does this matter? Because your hard work deserves better than being turned into monopoly money by someone else’s actions. Every time your currency loses value (inflation) its stealing from your past work, which harms your present savings, and your future dreams.