Tom Bilyeu

This sharpened export squeeze collided with an already persistent physical supply deficit, driving silver prices to record highs, approaching nearly $100 per ounce and igniting volatility because the metal

is both a critical industrial input and is now treated as a strategic resource by China.

To understand why the silver market is currently in a state of shock, you have to look at the massive disconnect between what people trade on their screens and what actually exists in the real world.

For decades, we've treated silver as a financial abstraction

a line on a chart used to hedge against inflation or speculate on price swings.

You have to understand this mentality.

This led to a level of paper leverage that is almost impossible to wrap your head around and is indicative of how the entire West approaches investing itself.

As of early January, 2026, the paper to physical silver ratio exploded to an estimated

356 to one.

That means for every one single ounce of physical silver sitting in a vault in London or New York, there are 356 paper claims, futures, options, ETFs, claiming ownership on that same ounce.

That's insane.

How did it happen?

People hate it when I say this, but the stock market is really just a sophisticated casino that allows people to bet on things of value.

Because traders stopped thinking about most things, including silver, as an actual physical asset that is used for something tangible, and instead just started treating the entire world as a purely digital asset.

The market got way out over its skis.

In a stable, globalized world, this worked.

Most traders never actually want the metal.

They just want to settle their bets in cash.

Banks and exchanges realized they could sell far more paper silver than they actually held because everyone assumed the supply was guaranteed and the global order was stable.

Ever heard of a bank run?