The Complete and Utter Collapse of Silver (and can it recover?)

Introduction and the Rise of Silver00:00:00

Silver hit a historic high of $121 an ounce in January 2026 before crashing over 50% to $54. The narrator introduces the mystery of who killed the silver price, mentioning suspects like Jerome Powell and Kevin Walsh, but hinting at a fourth suspect.

The Mechanics of Silver Pricing00:00:57

Silver's global reference price is set in London daily at noon. In October 2025, a shortage of silver in London vaults caused borrowing costs to triple, leading traders to fly silver bars from New York to London. Meanwhile, COMEX in New York handles paper silver trading via contracts.

COMEX Deposit Increases00:02:28

COMEX raised the deposit required to hold silver contracts multiple times, increasing it from $15,000 in September to $32,500 by late December. Because these increases forced buyers to close positions (sell), it acted as alleged price manipulation.

Server Outages and Market Halts00:04:23

On Thanksgiving Day, as silver approached a new high, COMEX servers went dark for over 11 hours due to a cooling issue. A second outage occurred in February when silver was recovering. The narrator notes that half of COMEX's outages since 2010 occurred during silver's critical price levels.

The Peak and the Crash00:08:12

China restricted silver exports in January, pushing prices higher. COMEX then shifted deposits to a percentage of contract value, reaching 11%. Silver hit $121.79 on January 29th, but within a week it crashed nearly 50% due to forced selling triggered by these margin hikes.

The Fourth Suspect: Terry Duffy00:14:59

The narrator identifies Terry Duffy, the long-time chairman and CEO of CME Group (which owns COMEX), as the fourth suspect. Duffy's company raised deposits eight times during the rally, experienced server outages at critical moments, and had its best financial quarter ever while silver collapsed.