Silver Gold The unusual price surge of silver this year is actually because India bought too much Russian oil, and Russia didn’t want to hold so many rupees. The purchasing power of the rupee is really limited, and its weakness even affected Russia, leading to noticeable inflation there. So, both Russia and India wanted to find an alternative to solve this issue. Since India is the largest silver consumer market in the world, and Russia has the third-largest silver reserves globally, they jointly decided to use silver as an equivalent to the rupee. This silver price takeoff started when a mysterious Indian buyer withdrew 1,000 tons of silver from the London Exchange. Oh, let me add some background info on why choosing silver benefits both Russia and India. India is the largest silver consumer market globally, with an annual silver circulation of 4,000-5,000 tons, and the domestic silver reserves are even higher. Meanwhile, the annual circulation of silver in the London and New York markets is only about 1,000-2,000 tons. Russia, on the other hand, is the third-largest holder of silver resources in the world, with abundant silver mine reserves. So, by teaming up to drive up silver prices, both India and Russia benefit. It’s like increasing the value of their domestic assets. At the same time, Russia avoids the awkward situation of selling oil and receiving ‘waste paper’ (rupees) in return. This also explains why Goldman Sachs jumped in to short squeeze silver.