IS Russia Rising Silver’s Price?

Precious metals have captured the financial world’s attention. Gold has surged to USD 3,352 per ounce marking a 40.17% year to date gain while silver hit a 13 year high at USD 38.17 climbing over 24%. But while the headlines focus on inflation, Federal Reserve uncertainty and trade wars as drivers of these historic prices. A Russian force may be exerting significant influence Russia's central bank.

Mounting evidence suggests that Russia could be driving up silver prices through undeclared purchases, shifting global dynamics in the precious metals market. This potential shadow activity may explain why silver has suddenly broken free of its view as gold’s underperforming cousin.

Silver Boom

The current surge in precious metals prices is the result of a confluence of factors. Persistent inflation, now holding at 2.7%, ongoing uncertainty over Federal Reserve rate cuts, and new trade tariffs under the Trump administration have all pushed investors toward safe haven assets. Central banks globally purchased 244 tonnes of gold in Q1 2025 alone, signalling a broader institutional push toward tangible reserves.

Silver’s rise, however, stands out. It has gained 30.6% since January outpacing gold’s 27.5%—and appears to be gaining momentum due to more than just industrial demand or investor speculation. While green energy, electronics, and jewellery sectors continue to support silver’s fundamentals, geopolitical motivations may now be playing a much larger role.

Since September 30, 2024, when Russia announced its intention to include silver in its State Reserve Fund, analysts have suspected the country of quietly buying up silver on the global market. Though the Russian government has yet to publicly confirm large-scale purchases, patterns in the silver market its relative outperformance and persistent premiums suggest that a powerful new buyer may have entered the arena.

For decades, central banks had largely abandoned silver. The metal was removed from national reserves in the mid-1800s and the world formally moved off the silver standard in the 1870s. But now, Russia appears to be reviving silver’s monetary role potentially as part of a broader BRICS strategy to bypass the U.S. dollar in international trade.

Is Gold To Expensive?

According to Forbes journalist Tim Treadgold, Russia’s move into silver could be a cost effective hedge against a high priced gold market. With gold near all time highs, silver’s affordability often dubbed “the poor man’s gold” offers BRICS countries a strategic advantage in building reserves without straining budgets.

Russia’s draft 2025–2027 federal budget allocates up to 51 billion rubles (roughly 535 million USD) toward the expansion of precious metal reserves, including silver and platinum. While no official purchasing plan has been published, analysts like Willem Middelkoop believe the strategy is two fold: bolster national economic stability and challenge Western-dominated commodity pricing mechanisms.

“Russia will also be aware silver is manipulated through the COMEX futures,” Middelkoop noted, suggesting Moscow may be trying to pressure the paper silver system by making real-world physical purchases. If true, this represents not just a financial play but a political one.

Adding further intrigue, Russia has proposed the creation of a BRICS Precious Metals Exchange. This would allow for metals trading based on BRICS-specific standards, potentially undermining the pricing power of institutions like the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) and COMEX. Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov envisions the BRICS exchange as a “key regulator of prices for precious metals,” hinting at a long-term plan to rewrite the rules of the global metals trade.

How do you think Silver will go into the future?

image sources provided supplemented by canva pro subscription. This is not financial advice and readers are advised to undertake their own research or seek professional financial advice

Posted Using INLEO