With headlines crowing of gold's worst year since 1981 as a signal that the status quo is winning and proof positive that fiat-currency naysayers must be wrong, it would appear that the rest of the world's central banks (and banks) have used the price depreciation to stack the precious metal. As Bloomberg reports,

• *RUSSIAN BANKS BOUGHT 181.4 TONS OF RUSSIAN GOLD IN 2013: RIA
• *RUSSIAN BANKS BOUGHT ALMOST 90% OF RUSSIA 2013 GOLD OUTPUT: RIA

This 5.834 million ounce addition (8.3% YoY) is more than double that of Russia's central bank additions in 2013 with Bitcoin-favoring Sberbank piling up 48.5 tons alone in 2013.

Russia's central bank added 2.485 million ounces to November - so the bank additions are very large...

Biggest buyers according to Finance Ministry include Sberbank (48.5 tons), VTB (38.9 tons), Gazprombank (29.1 tons), Nomos Bank (19.6 tons), Lanta Bank (8.6 tons).

So, like China, we are sure Russia will be sending a big "Thank You" to the Fed (and BIS) for their efforts.