The ‘Hidden Hand’ Buying Gold & Silver: Why Governments Are Using Banks to Accumulate | Josh Phair

Josh Phair, CEO of Scottsdale Mint, joins Jeremy Szafron on Kitco News to warn that the world has entered a "Metals War" where nations are scrambling to secure resources for future conflicts. Phair argues that a "Hidden Hand"—governments employing banks to conduct mercantile banking—is quietly accumulating gold and silver, fundamentally decoupling the physical market from the Fed’s interest rate policies.

He details why US banks flipped from net short to net long after Thanksgiving, the "desperate" arbitrage that saw jets flying silver across the Atlantic, and the reality of China’s new export licensing system. Phair also breaks down his "Axis vs. Allies" thesis for resource control and updates the "Phair-Sinclair Ratio," predicting a path to $35,000 gold as the West faces a critical shortage of strategic minerals.

Recorded December 30 2025.

https://youtu.be/sXTf9DhtsEQ?si=__AOyOzDFyUaf99h

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