Quick overview

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A billionaire Chinese trader who made his fortune riding the record-breaking gold rally has turned his attention to silver’s explosive rise with a wager on the metal’s collapse valued at nearly $300 million.

 

Bian Ximing, who stays out of the spotlight and spends most of his time in Gibraltar, has profited from bullish wagers on gold contracts on the Shanghai Futures Exchange to about $3 billion

Bian has been forced to liquidate some positions at a loss due to the high risk associated with his big short.

However, he currently has a short position worth roughly 450 tons of silver, or 30,000 contracts; since last week, the metal has dropped sharply, resulting in a paper gain of roughly 2 billion yuan ($288 million).

Bian, via Zhongcai Futures, his brokerage. started increasing silver shorts in the last week of January, according to data from the exchange. Most of SHFE’s precious metals holdings, according to the people, are made up of Bian’s personal wagers and products he oversees for a select group of clients.

SHFE does not reveal the identities of individual investors behind brokerage accounts. Zhongcai’s silver short position increased to roughly 18,000 lots in January, according to exchange data. 28. In January, it increased even more to roughly 28,000 lots. 30 when Shanghai’s metal hit its highest point ever.

Bian’s wager coincides with weeks of sharp price fluctuations that make market observers reconsider their one-size-fits-all strategy for precious metals.

While many institutional investors still see gold as a hedge against changes in interest rates, central bank purchases, and worldwide unpredictability, silver’s recent surge is increasingly perceived as an industrial rally driven primarily by speculative positioning.