Jan. 16 at 8:49 PM
There is growing concern around large concentrated short positions in silver, reportedly held by major financial institutions like
$BAC and
$C Estimates suggest these short exposures could total ~4.4 billion ounces, while global annual silver production is only ~800 million ounces.
If even a portion of physical silver were demanded back by bullion counterparties, the system would face a serious liquidity mismatch. To fully cover such positions through mining supply alone would require more than 5 years of total global silver production & that assumes silver is not simultaneously consumed by EVs, solar panels, semiconductors, medical use, jewelry, or bullion coins, which is clearly unrealistic.
This highlights a structural issue in paper commodities markets:
👉 Paper claims on silver vastly exceed available physical supply.
👉 Price discovery is driven more by derivatives than by real-world scarcity.
👉 Any disruption in confidence could force a rapid repricing of physical silver.
