One-sided retail demand, mechanical ETF rebalancing, and margin escalation identified as the primary catalysts.
According to the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) Quarterly Review - March, the dramatic breakdown in gold and silver prices early in the year was driven less by economic fundamentals and more by a surge of speculative retail activity, intensified by leveraged ETFs and margin-driven forced selling. Precious metals had rallied through 2025 and into January 2026 before prices fell abruptly towards the end of that month. Silver, which had doubled over 2025 and risen by more than 50% in Janu