Investing

In Silver, Redditors Find a Fit for Raging Against Establishment

Silver bugs have long claimed that prices are suppressed
Precious metal hit an eight-year high amid big ETF buying

WATCH: Silver surged at the week’s open as the Reddit-inspired frenzy that roiled stock markets last week spills over into commodities.Daybreak: Asia.” (Source: Bloomberg)

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By Jack Farchy, Eddie Spence, and Eddie van der Walt

February 1, 2021 at 4:26 PM UTC

Updated on

February 1, 2021 at 10:00 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

It seems a match made in heaven: Reddit’s rambunctious army of retail investors eager to take on the financial elites, and the world of silver “bugs,” hard-core metal bulls, many of whom have long argued the price was being suppressed by powerful forces.

The silver market has been roiled in recent days after a -- now-removed -- post appeared on Reddit’s WallStreetBets forum that encouraged traders to pile into BlackRock Inc.’s iShares Silver Trust. Many long-standing silver advocates reacted with glee as the price surged to an eight-year high on Monday, spurred on by huge purchases through the exchange-traded fund.