We report an exploratory statistical association between IceCube Neutrino Observatory GOLD-class alerts (signalness ≥ 0.5) and 72-hour gold (XAUUSD) price returns. Using publicly available GCN alert data (June 2019–April 2026; GOLD N=55, BRONZE N=118) and trend-detrended return series, we find that GOLD-period returns (+1.547%) are statistically higher than BRONZE-period returns (+0.670%), with p=0.0051 (Mann-Whitney U test). No physical causal mechanism is proposed. The result is presented as an exploratory finding requiring independent replication. A prospective verification window (CSS Event Window: May 25–30, 2026) was pre-registered on May 5, 2026 (DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.20035265). This study is version 2.0, revised in response to peer critique to separate directional prediction from amplitude targets and to explicitly acknowledge mechanistic uncertainty.

Revised v2.0: Exploratory framework statement added. Version 2.0 — revised following critical peer review. Key changes: (1) Physical causal mechanism explicitly stated as unknown. (2) Operational amplitude target (33.33%) separated from scientific falsification criteria. (3) Falsification criteria pre-specified. (4) Effect size reported. Pre-registration DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.20035265