The demand for gold remains intense. This year has seen incredible strength in the physical precious metals markets as gold, though not rocketing higher, has stood stout in the face of crashing commodities markets.

This strength has once again shown the world that gold is no mere metal. It is an insurance policy against political collapse, chaos and turmoil. In addition, it is true and real money – money that has stood the tests of time and weathered the many storms that have plagued mankind.

The latest indication of gold’s incredible, continued strength comes from Blackrock ETF, who issues the IAU (Gold Trust). Blackrock is stating something truly staggering that cannot be ignored. They are stating that they have seen no net outflow of funds so far in 2016, not even for one day! This means that each and every day so far this year, the IAU has seen a constant pouring of money into the fund.

Due to this fact, and the incredible gold demand they are seeing, they have had to actually suspend the issuance of further gold trust shares and had the following to say in a recent press release:

Issuance of New IAU (Gold Trust) Shares Temporarily Suspended; Existing Shares to Trade Normally for Retail and Institutional Investors on NYSE Arca and Other Venues.

The suspension results from surging demand for gold, which requires registration of new shares.

iShares Delaware Trust Sponsor LLC, in its capacity as the sponsor of iShares Gold Trust (IAU), has temporarily suspended the creation of new shares of IAU until additional shares are registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

This suspension does not affect the ability of retail and institutional investors to trade on stock exchanges. Retail and institutional investors will continue to be able to buy and sell shares in IAU.

IAU holds gold as a physical asset. IAU is an exchange-traded commodity (ETC), which therefore is not eligible for registration as an investment company under the ’40 Act. IAU may only be registered under the ’33 Act as a grantor trust. Under the ’33 Act, subscriptions for new shares in excess of those registered requires additional filings with the SEC.