precious metals

At least a dozen Chinese banks plan to wind down their retail leveraged precious-metals trading services, according to a widely shared report. The move restricts retail investors' access to leveraged gold and silver products at a time when demand for physical precious metals in China is described as surging.

The chief executive of Arizona-based Scottsdale Mint argues that gold functions as a trustless asset in an era of record central bank buying. In the remarks, he points to persistent market volatility, growing official-sector demand for bullion, and refining capacity bottlenecks that are complicating supply as key factors shaping the precious metals market. The interview adds to ongoing debate about gold's role as a hedge when confidence in fiat institutions is questioned.

Copper is breaking records while silver approaches $65 an ounce, a level last seen in 2011, and gold is regaining ground. Commentators highlight copper's growing role as a store of value. In crypto markets, Bitcoin ETFs saw roughly $2.4 billion in inflows and BlackRock has moved to tokenize assets on-chain.