"My question is, is $20,000+ gold really out of the question? May sound ridiculous now, but who knows?"OK mate - I'll bite...
I'll start by asking a similar question.... In Jan 2017, those that "owned" numbers on a screen (otherwise known as Bitcoin), being quoted at ~$375 per coin, would they have thought it "ridiculous" if someone suggested the quoted price could be ~$20,000 about 11 months later?
Well, look at this....

and, in Jan2024, those that "owned" numbers on a screen (otherwise known as Bitcoin), being quoted at ~$40,000 per coin, would they have thought it "ridiculous" if someone suggested the quoted price could be ~$100,000 about 11 months later?
Well, look at this....

So, based on that "ridiculousness" (is that even a word??), I would say anything is possible. Nobody has managed to convince me to "invest" in Bitcoin as I cannot see it can be called either a tangible "asset" or a "tangible "currency". I owned it for about a month about 7 years ago. I "purchased" NZD$100k and a month later sold the lot and got back $139k. It never made sense to me, still doesn't actually - and I couldn't sleep well at night for that whole month.
Given the volatility alone, I just get this nagging feeling BTC is a scam and has been designed specifically to separate unsuspecting and trusting punters from their dosh.
Gold (& Silver) are proven performers and are totally "tangible". I absolutely believe gold can get to $20,000+ but I will be happy if it just gets to $10,000.
Sorry, long winded I know but just trying to demonstrate my narrative.