What Happened To Silver_ _ Chris Vermeulen

"The market went parabolic. Everyone was getting rich. Then the CME pulled the rug—and silver crashed 50% in days in a textbook engineered shakeout."In this exclusive interview, Chris Vermeulen—Founder & CIO of The Technical Traders and author of Asset Revesting—explains exactly what happened to silver in the first quarter of 2026. After a spectacular momentum-fueled rally that saw silver surge from the 60s toward its all-time high of $106 and beyond, a "perfect storm" of factors triggered a violent reversal[citation:1][citation:2][citation:4].The primary catalyst was the CME Group's aggressive 47% margin hike on silver contracts (raised from $22,000 to over $32,500), forcing leveraged speculators into cascading liquidations[citation:1]. Additional selling came from annual Bloomberg Commodity Index rebalancing and a resurgent US Dollar Index climbing to two-week highs[citation:1]. A diplomatic breakthrough in Venezuela also relieved geopolitical tensions, removing a key "fear trade" pillar that had supported prices[citation:1]. Silver touched an intraday low near $60 in what analysts called the worst single-day percentage drop on record for the metal[citation:4].Vermeulen—who closed a major portion of his physical holdings near the top (silver at $113, gold at ~$5300)—now says the market sits in "no man's land"[citation:2]. While long-term trends remain bullish with the sixth consecutive year of supply deficit, short-term signals are mixed and uncertain[citation:4][citation:6]. He warns a deeper reset toward $50–$39 is possible before the next huge leg up, and is currently holding ~70% cash (or parked in currencies) waiting for clearer signals[citation:2][citation:5][citation:6]. Press play for the complete technical breakdown of 2026's most violent commodity shakeout.