TFTC: A Bitcoin Podcast #708: Why Silver Doubled in 60 Days with Josh Phair
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Jan 26, 2026 Josh Phair, founder of Scottsdale Mint and Wyoming Reserve, is a precious-metals entrepreneur with hands-on mining, minting, and vaulting experience. He discusses a global metals realignment and the geopolitics behind surging gold and silver. Short takes cover China’s resource strategy, massive physical flows, critical-minerals reshoring, and structural supply deficits driving market disruption.
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Metals War Driven By Geopolitics
- Josh Phair says a geopolitical metals war began around Ukraine and pushed critical minerals to the forefront of national security.
- Nations now compete for the same scarce metals, creating bidding pressure and higher prices.
COMEX Black Friday Withdrawal Freeze
- Josh recounts the COMEX outage on Black Friday and a huge silver withdrawal request that froze trading.
- He suspects the Chinese tested markets or tried a massive withdrawal that triggered the shutdown.
Banks Can Tighten Physical Supply
- Josh argues JP Morgan controls the largest silver stockpile and can restrict availability by making inventory off-limits.
- That withholding plus strategic hedging can materially tighten markets and lift prices.
