#数字资产市场动态 Gold prices plummeted overnight, and the story behind it is more astonishing than the drop itself

In recent months, the precious metals market has been buzzing, with gold and silver prices soaring, pushing large banks that rely on derivatives to suppress physical prices into a corner. The cloud of systemic risk looms overhead, and everyone can feel the sense of oppression.

But the turning point came suddenly. In just one day, the spot gold price dropped by $246, and New York futures gold plummeted by $268. This is not just a technical adjustment; what is it?

A late-night rumor stirred the entire market

On the evening of December 29, a message exploded in traders' groups: a major American bank—an influential player in the precious metals derivatives field—held hundreds of millions of ounces of silver short positions. This year, silver has gained nearly 150%, and the exchange's margin call notices flooded in, totaling $2.3 billion.

The problem is, this bank cannot come up with the money.

You can imagine what happened next: forced liquidation, regulatory intervention, and massive losses triggering alarms in the entire financial system. The Federal Reserve responded swiftly, injecting $34 billion in liquidity to bail out the market—this is the second time in half a month; just last week, they lost $18 billion.

One bank, suddenly transformed into a "too big to fail" entity.

Panic quickly spread. Sell first, worry later. Even traditionally resilient precious metal mining stocks declined across the board: Harmony Gold fell over 8%, Pan American Silver nearly 6%. Markets are never afraid of bad news; the real killer is the vague, unclear uncertainty.

Paper silver versus real silver, prices have torn apart

COMEX silver futures—that's what people often call "paper silver"—prices are determined by capital games and leverage. But what about real silver? Physical silver bars and ingots traded in places like Shanghai and Dubai.

When COMEX silver prices fell to around $75 per ounce, the physical silver quotes in Shanghai had already soared to $85, and Dubai even broke through $91. This premium on spot silver has reached levels unseen in decades.

An interesting phenomenon occurred: more and more people started purchasing gold and silver from the US, transporting them to Shanghai and Dubai, then selling at higher prices. Arbitrage opportunities opened up. Meanwhile, the gold and silver reserves in Europe and America are shrinking continuously, and pricing power is gradually shifting toward Asia. This trend is unstoppable.

The balance of the financial markets is being readjusted.