Banks’ Gold Trading Revenue Set to Hit Record $5B This Year

This is a structural story, not a price story: precious metals desks are becoming a material earnings line again, and the fact that JPMorgan's first-half haul and Deutsche Bank's post-return run-rate are being disclosed at all suggests banks want that visibility. The concentration is notable — a handful of balance-sheet-heavy players are capturing the economics, which matters for smaller dealers and for how much liquidity sits with a few institutions. Whether that revenue mix holds as more banks rebuild bullion desks, and whether Deutsche Bank's re-entry scales toward the leaders, is the open question to watch.