February 2026.
This is no longer a correction. This is not consolidation. This is a massacre, unfolding in real time, right in front of your eyes.
As I write these lines (early Feb), gold $XAU is in free fall through $4,500, silver $XAG is being crushed below $72. Every time you refresh the screen, the numbers sink lower. Last Friday was officially the worst day for silver in 45 years — down 38%, while gold collapsed 16%. Many believed that was the bottom.
They were wrong.
Behind the blood-red candlesticks is a carefully engineered campaign of destruction and accumulation, orchestrated by the very institutions that control the global financial system.
1. The Weapon of Choice: Eight Margin Blows in Eight Weeks
Why did prices collapse so violently? The answer is simple: margin hikes.
Under normal conditions, exchanges raise margin requirements two or three times a year. This time, CME in Chicago delivered eight margin hikes in just eight weeks.
The most critical move came on January 13, when CME switched to percentage-based margin. From that moment on, the higher the price rose, the more cash traders were required to post immediately. Silver rising became a self-tightening noose. The rally itself accelerated bankruptcy.
These margin hikes were timed deliberately — Christmas week, New Year’s Eve — moments when retail traders were distracted, exhausted, and least protected.
This was not risk management. This was a kill switch.
2. The Unholy Alliance: When Chicago and Shanghai Move as One
Here is where coincidence ends.
On the exact same days CME raised margin in the United States, the Shanghai Gold Exchange raised margin requirements from 20% to 26%. The U.S. and China may clash over trade wars, sanctions, and geopolitics — but when it comes to suppressing precious metals, they move in perfect synchronization.
Why?
Because both sides are terrified of the same number: 356 to 1.
For every single ounce of physical silver in the vaults, 356 ounces of paper silver exist on balance sheets. If even a fraction of investors demanded physical delivery, the system would detonate instantly.
3. The Silent Vault Exodus: The Mystery Convoys
In the third week of January alone, 33 million ounces of silver quietly left COMEX vaults.
This was not retail. Moving that volume requires fleets of armored trucks, security teams, and massive storage facilities. This is institutional money. Sovereign capital. Funds that understand exactly what is coming.
They are draining physical silver ahead of March 27, when futures contracts face delivery deadlines.
For March, exchanges have promised 528 million ounces. Actual deliverable inventory stands at just 113 million ounces.
They have sold nearly five times more silver than they possess.
4. The Smoking Gun: One Metal, Two Prices — The $28 Fraud
Look at this and tell me the market is functioning.
Paper silver in New York trades at $72, collapsing by the hour. Physical silver in Shanghai holds firm near $100.
That is a $28 spread — nearly 39%.
Why are buyers in Shanghai willing to pay 39% more than New York prices? Because they understand that $72 is a fictional number. They know the real value of silver $XAG is far closer to $100, and they are willing to pay a premium for metal — not promises.
Paper is collapsing. Reality is not.
5. Lock the Doors, Then Finish the Job
As prices crashed, thousands of investors tried to exit.
They couldn’t.
In China, silver funds were outright suspended. In the United States, systems failed, hotlines were jammed for hours, and orders were rejected repeatedly. Prices were slammed downward, exits were sealed shut, and margins were raised again to finish off the remaining accounts.
One trader messaged me in despair:
“I tried to close my position for 18 straight hours. Every order was rejected. I watched my account evaporate by thousands of dollars and could do nothing.”
This is not a market. This is an execution.
WHO BENEFITS?
J.P. Morgan. Bank of America. HSBC.
These institutions hold massive short positions. They sit on exchange committees. They write the rules. They know exactly when the hammer will fall — and they extract billions from the panic of retail investors.
FINAL WARNING
This collapse has no physical justification. Demand from AI, electric vehicles, and solar energy continues to explode. Supply deficits remain at record levels. Paper prices may plunge to $72 or lower, but physical reality in Shanghai still says $100.
That $28 gap cannot survive indefinitely.
When this operation ends, reality will reassert itself. The only unanswered question is whether you will still be standing when it does.
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This is a personal insights, not financial advice | DYOR
#GOLD #Silver #GoldSilverRally