For months, buying gold was a sure thing.

It was the main beneficiary of the debasement trade, which saw investors dump the US dollar and government bonds in favor of the precious metal. It’s been a key material for the global data-center build-out. And, perhaps most notably, it became a favorite of retail traders.

Over a glorious several-month period, an asset known for being a safe haven morphed into a speculative bet. The gains were robust — until they suddenly weren’t.

First came a knee-jerk sell-off in gold after Kevin Warsh was nominated as the new Fed Chair in late January. But the metal largely recovered that loss.

Now, since the start of the Iran war, gold is back down more than 10%.