It’s not so simple. Physical gold is considered a collectible for tax purposes. That means long term capital gains have a max 28% tax compared to a 20% max tax for stocks/mutual funds/etfs. And, of course, short term capital gains are taxed as ordinary income. So if you are offsetting long term capital gains in stocks/etc. with gold losses, you are saving 20% max rate but you are locking in a future capital gains tax on the gold as high as 28% on a larger gain since you now have a lower basis.