Who_s Buying All The Silver - Physical Market Dominating _ Andy Schectman

"The West panics. The East accumulates. And the physical market has completely divorced from paper fiction."In this urgent episode, Andy Schectman—president of Miles Franklin—returns to expose the most important story in precious metals today: the systematic transfer of physical silver from weak Western hands to strong Eastern hands. With China implementing strict export licensing on refined silver in January 2026, effectively "ring-fencing" nearly 65% of global supply for domestic use, the global flow has been fundamentally severed [citation:8][citation:9].Schectman reveals how Chinese physical premiums have decoupled from Western paper benchmarks, trading at 12–13% above COMEX futures—a historically extreme divergence indicating physical market leadership [citation:2]. Meanwhile, Japan premiums have surged to 60% on secondary markets, and Dubai premiums hit 40% [citation:2]. Even physical silver in some Tokyo transactions reached a staggering $130 per ounce while COMEX paper quoted $71 [citation:8].But the hidden layer? Schectman argues China isn't just buying—they're masterminding the squeeze. The theory: Beijing orchestrated the January 2026 margin-hike induced price crash to trigger Western panic selling, allowing state-backed entities to drain depleted COMEX vaults of what little Registered silver remains—just over 100 million ounces against 400+ million ounces in open interest [citation:4].Who's buying? Central banks, sovereign wealth funds, AI manufacturers desperate for industrial supply, and a nation preparing to back its currency with hard assets. The financial control grid is shifting—and silver is ground zero.