When mainstream retailers start stocking precious metals at scale, it often signals a market inflection point worth watching. Take a major retail chain that began offering gold bars around $2,700 per ounce roughly two years ago—today that same gold is trading near $4,500. That's roughly 65% appreciation in two years. Whether you view it as a hedge against currency debasement or a risk-on signal during inflationary cycles, the retail adoption of gold tells you something about where large institutions and everyday investors are positioning themselves. The fact that physical precious metals moved from niche to mainstream retail shelves mirrors what we've seen in crypto adoption patterns—when something goes from specialist-only to everyone's grandma asking about it, the cycle dynamics have already shifted.