Who is Pulling Silver Off the Market – and Why It’s Alarming China

Eric Yeung (King Kong on X.com) and VBL’s Ghost are working on a framework that explains why silver isn’t just rising but accelerating. Once you connect all the dots, the increase no longer looks speculative—it looks strategic.

Start with China.

Chinese influencers, traders, and market commentators are suddenly changing their tone. People who previously encouraged accumulation are now warning against hoarding. This isn’t random. Such messages only appear when authorities are concerned about where inventories are—or more precisely, where they aren’t.

Now look at the global picture.

At the same time, the U.S. is escalating pressure on Venezuela. On the surface, it seems political, but the underlying factor is resources. Venezuela isn’t just oil—it sits within a broader Latin American supply network that feeds the global silver market.

Here’s the next key point: over the past two months, massive amounts of silver have flowed from Latin America into the U.S.—not into China.

One of the clearinghouses handling this flow is JPMorgan.

Silver Reckoning: The U.S. Is Pressuring China

This is what a silver reckoning looks like. Markets are repricing access as supply chains are reshored and geo-economic factors once again outweigh ideology. Silver reflects this shift in real time more than other assets, with price movements registering before policies formalize the changes already visible in physical flows.

Silver has been the most suppressed asset in the world, and therefore it has the greatest potential for gains. Below is an explanation of what is happening behind the price action and why it is likely to continue.

On Black Friday, JPMorgan effectively pulls silver off the market. Removing available supply triggers a forced reaction elsewhere. Someone in China who is structurally short silver has to cover—and covers aggressively. This isn’t a trade; it’s a scramble.

Next comes the policy shift.

Next year, China begins an export freeze on certain materials. That alone changes behavior today. Markets don’t wait for doors to close—they act when they know the locks are being installed.

Here we reach the most important and least discussed part.

Over the past five years, accelerating sharply over the last two, China has been buying silver concentrate and doré bars from Latin America. Not finished bars, but raw material that can be refined, controlled, and allocated domestically.

Why does this matter?

Because China is mining less silver than before. Domestic production is declining. That Latin American supply isn’t optional—it’s critical.

And this reframes the entire hoarding narrative.

China likely isn’t buying silver just to sit on it. China is buying to secure access because it understands in advance that the Western market is going to close.

Now look at the Western Hemisphere.

The U.S., increasingly following a modern Monroe Doctrine model, is reasserting control over regional resource flows. Venezuela is under pressure, Mexico is gradually agreeing to send its silver north, and banks like JPMorgan manage the flow.

This isn’t a coincidence. The U.S. is now in a “metals war” with China.

So when silver starts surging, when Chinese voices suddenly warn against hoarding, when U.S. inventories quietly absorb Latin American metal, and when banks remove supply at exactly the wrong moment for shorts, the story is no longer about speculation.

It’s about access. Who has it. Who is losing it.