Hi,
If you’ve been waiting for the final confirmation that physical gold and silver are in the early stages of an explosive bull market, this week just delivered it in overwhelming fashion.
Silver is now trading at all-time highs above $56 USD per ounce in New York — up an eye-watering 5% in a single day — while Shanghai silver contracts touched an astonishing $55.91 USD per ounce. For the first time in modern history, silver in China commanding a premium over Western prices has triggered a massive physical arbitrage flow from East to West pushing prices higher. Meanwhile, central banks — led by emerging-market powerhouses — are hoarding gold at the fastest pace in decades, explicitly citing Western attempts to confiscate Russia’s frozen assets as the catalyst.
In short: the two biggest precious-metal stories on the planet are screaming the same message — own hard assets now.
China’s Silver Stockpiles Collapse to a 10-Year Low
Yesterday, Bloomberg reported that exchange-tracked silver inventories on the Shanghai Futures Exchange and Shanghai Gold Exchange have plunged to their lowest levels since 2015 and 2016, respectively. Over 660 tonnes — a record volume — was exported from China in October alone, much of it heading straight to London vaults to relieve an silver squeeze that sent delivery delays to over 8 weeks.
The result? Shanghai silver has flipped into deep backwardation (near-term contracts trading far above later-dated ones), a classic sign of immense physical shortage. Chinese solar-panel manufacturers are in peak-season buying mode, and a recent tax-rule change has unintentionally diverted jewelry and retail demand from gold into silver. Domestic stockpiles are being drained at the exact moment the rest of the world needs China to be the lender of last resort.
Translation: the global silver market has lost its traditional shock absorber. Any new demand spike — whether from U.S. tariffs, Indian wedding season, or another London squeeze — will now be met with dramatically less Chinese supply. That’s rocket fuel for prices.
Central Banks Are Buying Gold Because They No Longer Trust the West
Russia’s central bank went on record yesterday stating the obvious: emerging-market central banks are piling into gold at a record pace because the G7 has openly discussed seizing $300 billion of Moscow’s frozen foreign-exchange reserves.
When the West proved that sovereign U.S. dollar and euro reserves can be confiscated with the stroke of a pen, every non-aligned central bank took notice. The result? Gold has surged 59.32% in 2025 and is on track for its best year since 1979.
This isn’t speculation — it’s de-dollarization in real time. And every new bar that goes into official vaults is a bar that won’t soon come back to the market.
The East-to-West Silver Arbitrage Just Went Nuclear
For most of modern history, silver has traded at a discount in China. That relationship that was inverted over the past year just ended abruptly as the price difference continued to pull Western prices higher. On Friday, Shanghai silver hit the equivalent of $55.91 USD/oz while the Western benchmark struggled around $50–52. Within hours of the market opening, physical metal started moving, and Comex silver was dragged to a fresh all-time high of $56.12 — closing the entire gap in a single session.
This is the definition of a structural bull market: when the world’s deepest stockpile flips from supplier to black hole, and price signals force metal to move halfway around the world at warp speed just to balance the market.
Why This Time Is Different
- China can no longer export its way out of a squeeze
- Central banks are now permanent bidders for gold
- Western inventories remain critically low and lending rates elevated
- Potential U.S. tariffs on imported silver threaten to “lock up” metal already in the United States
Put those factors together and the path of least resistance is dramatically higher prices.
Final Word
The era of “paper promises” backing the financial system is ending in plain sight. Countries are voting with their vaults, and physical precious metals are the only assets that cannot be frozen, confiscated, or printed at will.
Silver at $56+ and gold knocking on $4,200 are not the top — they are the starting gun.
If you’ve been waiting for undeniable evidence that the precious-metals bull market has entered its public-exponential phase, you now have it from three continents in the span of 48 hours.
Secure your allocation today. History suggests that waiting for the “all clear” is the most expensive mistake an investor can make in a bull market of this magnitude.
