Gold has crashed from its record high, and China is making it harder for regular people to trade it — bad news for small gold investors, and a sign of a deeper fight over what counts as real money.

• Gold hit a record high, then fell about 28% and now trades near $4,000 an ounce.
• China's banks raised the amount of cash needed to trade gold on borrowed money to a record 140%, meaning you must put up more than the investment is even worth.
• The official reason is protecting small traders from wild price swings.
• The real story is likely a bigger fight over gold's role as real money and what it should be worth.

Outlook: Expect gold to stay volatile and China to keep tightening access as the tug-of-war over hard money continues.