Poland’s central bank buys 82 tons of gold this year as it races toward 700-ton target

Narodowy Bank Polski, Poland’s central bank, has acquired roughly 82 tons of gold so far in 2026, a pace that would make it one of the world’s most aggressive sovereign buyers this year. The bank started the year with approximately 550 tons of gold reserves, reached about 581.64 tons by the end of Q1, then added an estimated 14 tons in April and 19 tons in May.

The 700-ton ambition

In January, NBP approved plans to purchase an additional 150 tons of gold total, targeting 700 tons in total reserves. That would place Poland among the top 10 gold-holding countries on the planet.

Governor Adam Glapiński has been the architect of this strategy. Under his tenure, Poland’s gold reserves have grown more than fivefold. He’s framed the buying spree as a shield against geopolitical risk and a way to reduce reliance on traditional reserve currencies.

Gold is now expected to comprise up to 30% of Poland’s total reserves. That’s a sharp increase from the 20% target the bank had set just in late 2025.

Why this matters beyond Warsaw

Poland isn’t acting in a vacuum. Central banks globally have been stockpiling gold at elevated rates, a trend that accelerated after Western nations froze Russian central bank assets in 2022.

The Bitcoin question nobody is answering yet

NBP’s gold purchases don’t involve any cryptocurrency component. Governor Glapiński has not signaled any interest in adding digital assets to Poland’s reserves. But the intellectual framework he’s using, diversification away from traditional reserve assets, reduced counterparty risk, hedging against geopolitical instability, maps almost perfectly onto the case that Bitcoin advocates have been making for years.

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