In late January 2026, the global precious metals market experienced a rare deleveraging trend. Silver once fell below $75 per ounce, the first time since January 8, with a single-day drop of 35.12%. Gold also experienced a sharp correction, once falling below $4,710 per ounce, with a single-day drop of more than 12%.
The market generally believes that this round of sharp declines is not due to a complete reversal of fundamentals, but rather a cleansing of funds triggered by institutional factors. The Chicago Mercantile Exchange's (CME) increase in margin requirements for precious metal futures is seen as a key trigger for the sell-off; meanwhile, the hawkish stance of Kevin Warsh, the nominee for the new Federal Reserve Chairman, has strengthened expectations of a stronger dollar, exacerbating pressure on metal prices.
However, if we extend the timeframe, this pullback occurs within a precious metals supercycle that began in the latter half of 2023. The long-term gains in gold and silver remain substantial, prompting the market to reconsider: is this the start of a trend reversal, or simply a repricing after the clearing of highly leveraged positions? Why do analysts believe copper will be the king of metals in the future?
By the end of January 2026, the precious metals market was deleveraging.
Since the beginning of 2026, the precious metals market has experienced a dramatic reversal after reaching record highs. Silver prices rose steadily at the beginning of the year, once exceeding $120 per ounce, but the upward momentum failed to continue. At the end of January (Taiwan time), silver experienced a precipitous pullback, plummeting to below $75 within just a few trading days, a drop of over 35%.
Gold prices also shifted from strong to weak. At the beginning of 2026, gold briefly hit a record high of $5,400 per ounce, but selling pressure quickly emerged, causing prices to plummet below $4,900 in late January, even briefly dipping to $4,700, a decline of nearly 10% from its peak. The simultaneous sharp drop in gold and silver prices also led to a significant loosening of the market's short-term perception of safe-haven assets.
CME's margin requirement increase caused the largest drop in precious metals history.
The precious metals market experienced a sharp decline at the end of January 2026, with silver briefly falling below $75 per ounce for the first time since January 8th, a single-day drop of 35.12%, wiping out more than a third of its market value in just one day. Gold also saw a sharp correction, briefly falling below $4,710 per ounce, a single-day drop of over 12%. Reasons included the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) raising margin requirements for futures contracts and market reactions to the hawkish stance of Federal Reserve nominee Kevin Warsh, which could strengthen the US dollar.
With the market facing complete deleveraging, investors are wondering: Is it still a good time to buy precious metals? The following will approach this from two angles: first, what is the trend of gold, the king of precious metals? and second, what precious metals are still worth buying in 2026?
Silver led the gains among precious metals, while gold also surged by over 138%.
When we zoom out the time frame, this precious metals supercycle began during the gold price breakout period from late 2023 to early 2024. Since the beginning of 2024, precious metal prices have embarked on a structural upward trend driven by the combined effects of inflation repricing, escalating geopolitical tensions, and tightening physical supply.
Taking gold as an example, its price rose from approximately $2,039 per ounce in January 2024 to $4,862 by February 5, 2026, representing a cumulative increase of over 138%, officially establishing a long-term breakout pattern. Silver's performance was even more extreme, surging from $22.94 to $76.8 during the same period, a cumulative increase of 235%, making it the most leveraged asset in this round of precious metals market activity.
Other industrial and strategic metals also strengthened. Platinum more than doubled from $920 to $2,003, a cumulative increase of 118%; palladium rose by about 72%; even copper, considered a representative of the economic cycle, rose from $3.87 per pound to $5.79, a cumulative increase of nearly 50%.
Precious metal price movements since January 2024:
- Silver (XAG): The closing price in January 2024 was $22.94 per ounce, and the closing price on February 5, 2026 was $76.8 per ounce, representing a cumulative increase of 235%.
- Gold (XAU): The closing price in January 2024 was $2,039 per ounce, and the closing price on February 5, 2026 was $4,862 per ounce, representing a cumulative increase of 138%.
- Platinum (XPT): The closing price in January 2024 was $920/oz, and the closing price on February 5, 2026 was $2003/oz, representing a cumulative increase of 117.7%.
- Palladium (XPD): The closing price in January 2024 was $980/ounce, and the closing price on February 5, 2026 was $1681/ounce, representing a cumulative increase of 71.5%.
- Copper (Chopper): The closing price in January 2024 was $3.87/lb, and the closing price on February 5, 2026 was $5.79/lb, representing a cumulative increase of 49.6%.
A review of the four instances of central bank gold sales reveals that all occurred during periods of low inflation and social stability.
One of the biggest buyers in this round of precious metals bull market is global central banks. In the World Gold Council's 2025 Central Bank Gold Reserves Survey , 76% of the surveyed central banks expect the proportion of gold in their reserves to increase significantly or moderately over the next five years. When asked whether global official gold reserves would increase in the coming year, about 95% of central banks believed they would, 43% said they would increase their own country's gold holdings, and no central bank expected to reduce its holdings.
Will these central banks continue to buy? When will they sell?
The first question is about why global central banks are buying gold. They do so to reduce concentrated risk in the US financial system. Data from the World Gold Council (WGC) shows that between 2023 and 2025, global central banks (especially those in emerging markets) continued to make net purchases of gold at historically high levels.
The second issue is that, looking back at past cases of central banks selling gold, a common thread is that these official sales often occur when the world appears stable. This also means that even if the long-term structure still favors gold, short-term price fluctuations can still be extreme. For investors, rather than betting on the direction all at once, it's better to maintain operational flexibility, allowing positions to be quickly adjusted in response to policies, margin requirements, and the dollar's movements.
In practice, some investors use trading platforms like Bitget TradFi, which support gold, forex, and indices, to hedge across multiple assets, rather than relying on a single market.
I. The UK's "Brown Selling Gold": The Most Classic Case of Selling at the Low Point
Between 1999 and 2002, the UK Treasury, under the leadership of then Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown, sold approximately 395 tons of gold through public auctions, becoming one of the most famous official gold sales cases in financial history. The official reasons given included: diversifying foreign exchange reserves, reducing the proportion of holdings in "highly volatile, non-interest-bearing" assets, and using some of the proceeds for debt reduction.
However, the average selling price of this batch of gold was close to the historical low at the time, and the gold price then embarked on a super bull market that lasted for more than a decade, making "Brown's gold sell" a classic negative example of selling core safe-haven assets at the wrong time.
II. The European Central Bank and other central banks: Institutionalized and orderly gold sales
Around the same time, several European Central Banks signed the Central Bank Gold Agreement in 1999, agreeing to sell gold in an orderly and limited manner under conditions of gold demonetization and low inflation, in order to avoid competitive selling and market disorder. This type of gold selling was not short-term trading, but a structural adjustment of foreign exchange reserve allocation, reflecting the mainstream consensus at the time.
With the establishment of the Euro system and the deepening of financial globalization, the importance of gold was declining. However, subsequent financial crises and geopolitical shocks gradually undermined this assumption.
III. Swiss National Bank: Domestic Political and Fiscal Considerations Behind Gold Sales
Between 2000 and 2007, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) sold large amounts of gold in batches, primarily driven by institutional and political factors rather than market manipulation. Following a constitutional amendment, Switzerland determined that its gold reserves exceeded monetary policy needs, and the proceeds from the sales were allocated to the federal government and cantons for public finance and social spending. This is a classic example of gold being viewed as an idle asset that could be converted into immediate fiscal resources. However, in retrospect, this period also coincided with a long-term bottom for gold prices.
IV. IMF Gold Sales: Realizing Gold for Global Public Purposes
Unlike central banks, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has discussed or implemented limited gold sales on numerous occasions since the 1990s. The aim is to fund debt reduction programs for heavily indebted poor countries, as well as poverty alleviation and trust funds. The IMF's logic for selling gold is not based on a bearish view of gold, but rather on its view of it as a global public asset that can be converted into financial resources when necessary to stabilize the international financial system. These sales are typically controlled in scale and coordinated with central banks beforehand to avoid market shocks.
In 2026, precious metals saw a price surge, with AI driving copper to become the king of metals?
Since January 2024
- Silver rose from $22.94 per ounce (XAG) to $76.8 per ounce on February 5, 2026, representing a cumulative increase of 235%.
- Gold (XAU): The closing price in January 2024 was $2,039 per ounce, and the closing price on February 5, 2026 was $4,862 per ounce, representing a cumulative increase of 138%.
- Platinum (XPT): The closing price in January 2024 was $920/oz, and the closing price on February 5, 2026 was $2003/oz, representing a cumulative increase of 117.7%.
- Palladium (XPD): The closing price in January 2024 was $980/ounce, and the closing price on February 5, 2026 was $1681/ounce, representing a cumulative increase of 71.5%.
- Copper (Chopper): The closing price in January 2024 was $3.87/lb, and the closing price on February 5, 2026 was $5.79/lb, representing a cumulative increase of 49.6%.
Buy copper now and wait for a potential price surge?
The fact that copper's price increase has clearly lagged behind suggests a reasonable entry point for a potential catch-up rally, based on the concept of asset rotation. From an asset rotation perspective, it's not unreasonable for funds to shift towards industrial metals after gold and silver enter a consolidation phase following deleveraging. This type of cross-commodity allocation also places higher demands on trading tools. Compared to the past, which required separate operations through futures, CFDs, or different brokers, models like Bitget TradFi, which allow simultaneous allocation of gold and industrial metals in a single account, reduce the friction in executing asset rotation.
Electric vehicles require 3.6 times more copper than gasoline vehicles.
Looking further at the demand side of copper, a report from the International Copper Association points out that a gasoline-powered car uses about 23 kilograms of copper, while a pure electric vehicle uses about 83 kilograms. This means that the copper demand for pure electric vehicles is 3.6 times that of gasoline-powered vehicles. With the increasing prevalence of electric vehicles, Reuters estimates that by 2030, the demand for copper from electric vehicles alone will reach as high as 2.2 million tons per year.
AI data centers require 500,000 tons of copper annually.
However, this is only a small part of the demand for copper. The real fundamental demand for copper comes from the data centers of AI giants. For example, Nvidia's HGX system's hyperscale AI data center could require up to 50,000 tons of copper in a single facility. Currently, global data centers use approximately 500,000 tons of copper annually, and this figure is projected to increase to approximately 3 million tons by 2050, a roughly six-fold increase.
The power grid of AI data centers also generates a large demand for copper.
Beyond data centers, the power grid also generates significant copper demand. Copper used in the power grid includes: transmission and distribution cables, transformers and substation equipment, switchgear, and some distribution busbars and connectors. This sector, along with construction and home appliances, constitutes a major portion of copper demand. An S&P Global 2026 study indicates that global copper demand will reach approximately 42 million tons by 2040.
Global copper demand is projected to reach 28 million tons by 2025, already exceeding supply.
Data from S&P Global shows that global copper demand will grow by 50%, from 28 million metric tons per year in 2025 to 42 million metric tons per year in 2040. In contrast, ICSG's " World Copper Factbook 2024" indicates that global mine copper production is approximately 22.4 million metric tons, suggesting that current copper supply is already showing signs of falling short of demand, both from raw mining and supply.
Whether investors are looking to capitalize on the anticipated strengthening of the US dollar following Kevin Warsh's appointment as Federal Reserve Chairman, or are simply trading across a wide range of precious metals, Bitget TradFi, regulated by the Mauritian FSC, offers a USDT-margined MT4 trading platform for forex and precious metals. Bitget also provides perpetual contract trading in US stocks and precious metals (silver, gold, platinum, palladium), offering flexible trading options.
This article, titled "Is the Gold and Silver Plunge Just Deleveraging? From Central Bank Gold Purchases to AI, Could Copper Reign Supreme in 2026?", first appeared on ABMedia (a ABMedia ).
