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We just the largest intraday crash in silver since 1980 where price fell -32%. In just two days $2.5 trillion was wiped out from silver and are speculating that JPMorgan was behind this crash.

It is the same bank that was fined $920 million by the U.S. Department of Justice and the CFTC for manipulating gold and silver prices between 2008 and 2016.

That case involved hundreds of thousands of fake orders placed to move prices before being canceled. Several JPMorgan traders were criminally convicted. This is documented history, not speculation.

Now look at how the silver market works today.

Most silver trading does not involve real silver. It happens through futures contracts. For every 1 ounce of real silver, there are hundreds of paper contracts tied to it.

JPMorgan is one of the largest bullion banks active in this market and one of the largest participants on COMEX. According to COMEX data, JPMorgan is also one of the largest holders of registered and eligible physical silver, giving it influence on both the paper side and the physical side of the market at the same time.

Here is the key point most people miss:

Who benefits when prices fall fast in a leveraged market?

Not the small trader. Not the hedge fund using leverage. The one who can survive margin calls and buy when others are forced to sell.

That is JPMorgan.

Before the crash, silver was pumping very fast. Many traders were long silver using borrowed money. When prices started falling, those traders did not choose to sell. They were forced to sell because exchanges demanded more margin.

At the same time, exchanges raised margin requirements sharply. This meant traders suddenly needed much more cash to keep their positions open. Most could not. Their positions were closed automatically.

This created forced selling. Now here is where JPMorgan benefits.

When prices are collapsing and others are forced to sell, JPMorgan can do three things at once:

FIRST, it can buy back silver futures at much lower prices than where it sold earlier. That locks in profit on paper.

SECOND, it can take delivery of physical silver through the futures market while prices are depressed. COMEX delivery reports during this period show large banks, including JPMorgan, actively stopping contracts and taking delivery while prices were under pressure.

THIRD, because JPMorgan has a massive balance sheet, margin hikes do not force it to sell. Margin hikes actually remove weaker players and leave JPMorgan with less competition.

This is why people are directly accusing JPMorgan of causing the silver crash.

COMEX delivery data shows JPMorgan issued 633 Feb silver contracts right during this crash.

Issued means JPMorgan was on the short side of those contracts. The claim is simple: JPMorgan opened shorts near the $120 top and closed them near $78 during delivery.

That would mean JPMorgan made money on the crash while others were forced to liquidate, which is why people are openly saying this move was not random.

Now look at the global picture.

In the US paper market, silver prices collapsed. In Shanghai, physical silver is trading far higher than US prices.

That means real buyers are still paying up for silver. Only the paper price collapsed.

This tells you the crash was not caused by physical supply suddenly appearing. It was caused by paper selling.

This is exactly the type of environment where JPMorgan has benefited before. A paper heavy market, forced liquidations, margin hikes, and weak players exiting at the worst time.

No one needs to prove JPMorgan planned the crash to understand the problem. The structure itself allows the biggest players to profit when volatility explodes.

And when a bank with a documented history of silver manipulation, people are right to ask questions.

Silver just hit $120, up 450% in the last 2 years, adding over $6 trillion to its market cap and became the BEST performing assets in the world.

The main reason for this INSANE rally is supply chain + paper market problem happening at the same time.

Here’s what’s actually driving it:

1. THE MARKET HAS BEEN IN A REAL SUPPLY DEFICIT FOR YEARS

This is not a one month shortage.Over the last 5 years, the world has used more silver than it produced.
Total deficit: 678 million ounces.

That is almost one full year of global mine production missing from the system. So silver was already in shortage before the price started moving fast.

2. CHINA TURNED SILVER INTO A STRATEGIC EXPORT

China does not only mine silver. China controls a large part of the world’s refined silver supply. Recently, China tightened exports using licensing and restrictions. This means fewer silver bars are allowed to leave the country.

That directly reduces the amount of silver available for the rest of the world.

You can already see this in prices. Shanghai silver is trading near $127, much higher than global markets.
That premium exists because physical silver inside China is becoming harder to get.

When China slows exports:
• Other countries have to fight harder for limited supply
• Physical premiums rise quickly
• Factories pay higher prices to avoid production delays

3. INDUSTRIAL DEMAND IS GROWING RAPIDLY

Silver is not only a store of value. It is a critical industrial metal. Two major demand drivers are:

A) Solar demand

Solar panels need silver to conduct electricity inside each panel. Every panel uses silver in its internal wiring. As more countries build solar power plants, silver demand rises. Global solar silver demand is expected to grow from about. 200 million ounces per year to around 450 million ounces per year by 2030.

That alone can consume a very large part of global supply.

B) Data centers, AI, and electrification

More data centers are being built. Power grids are being upgraded. Electronics production is increasing. Silver is used because it carries electricity better than any other metal. In high performance systems, it cannot be easily replaced.

So demand keeps rising while supply is already tight.

4. THE PAPER MARKET IS WAY BIGGER THAN THE REAL METAL

Most silver trading happens through paper contracts, not real metal. Paper to physical leverage is estimated 350:1. That means for every 1 real ounce, there can be 350+ oz in paper claims. This only works as long as nobody asks for physical delivery.

But when physical delivery increases:
• Shorts cannot find metal
• They must buy contracts back
• Price moves up fast
• More shorts are forced to exit

That creates a forced buying loop.

5. LEASE RATES AND BACKWARDATION SHOWED PHYSICAL STRESS

A) Lease rates

Lease rates are the cost to borrow physical silver. Normally, lease rates are close to zero. They spiked close to 39% annualized recently. That means physical silver became extremely difficult to borrow.

B) Backwardation

Backwardation means spot prices are higher than futures prices. This happens when buyers want metal immediately, not later. Silver backwardation reached levels last seen around 1980 during some periods.
That shows severe physical shortage.

6. REFINING BOTTLENECKS MADE IT WORSE

About 9.7% of global refining capacity went offline in late 2025. Even when silver existed, it could not be processed fast enough into usable form.

That tightened supply further.

7. ETFs REMOVED EVEN MORE METAL FROM CIRCULATION

ETFs buy real silver bars and store them. Over 95 million ounces flowed into silver ETFs in early 2025 alone. That metal is no longer available for industry or delivery.

8. SILVER WAS CLASSIFIED AS A STRATEGIC MATERIAL

In August 2025, the U.S. added silver to its Critical Minerals List. This officially changed silver from a normal commodity into a strategic resource.

9. WHY SILVER MOVES FASTER THAN GOLD

Gold markets are large and deep. Silver markets are smaller and thinner. When demand rises, silver prices move much faster. Silver did not go parabolic for one reason.

It moved because of:

• Multi-year supply deficits
• China tightening refined exports
• Rising industrial demand
• Huge paper leverage with limited physical supply
• Lease rate spikes
• Backwardation
• London inventory stress
• Refinery shutdowns
• ETF absorption
• Strategic classification

The market stopped being driven by paper prices.
It started being driven by physical availability.