Gold & Silver: Paper VS Physical — The $361B Gap Is Getting Wider Right Now

Jul 16, 2026, 5:04 p.m. IST

Gold and silver investing in 2026 is being shaped by a gap most investors have never examined.

In 2025, daily gold trading volume averaged $361 billion. In the first half of 2026, it reached nearly $488 billion. The physical gold investment market that underlies it has not kept pace and the distance between paper gold and physical precious metals is not theoretical. It has a date. It happened during a month most investors remember for entirely different reasons.

In this video, we trace the full mechanics of the paper-to-physical market: how the system holds under normal conditions, and what specifically happens when it doesn’t. Whether you hold gold bullion, a silver position, or a precious metals fund, what you own is more specific than most investors realise. A gold price forecast for 2026 is less useful than understanding the structural gap beneath it. The prices have fallen. The question of what you own has not changed.

In this video:

— How paper gold trading volume works and why it usually holds

— The March 2020 supply chain breakdown: what speed, not quantity, revealed

— Physical gold investment: what “deliverable” actually means in practice

— Gold and silver: why silver compresses every pressure in this market right now

— The one question every precious metals investor needs to answer

Buy Gold Coins

Buy gold coins and bars and store them in the safest vaults in Switzerland, London or Singapore with GoldCore.

Learn why Switzerland remains a safe-haven jurisdiction for owning precious metals. Access Our Most Popular Guide, the Essential Guide to Storing Gold in Switzerland here.

Receive Our Award Winning Market Updates In Your Inbox – Sign Up Here

About Author

Dave Russell

David is the CEO of GoldCore. Until Summer 2023 he was the Director of Marketing and Communications, responsible for all marketing and communications strategies and branding. David joined GoldCore in 2008 as Director of Business Development and later took over as Director of Marketing and Communications in 2020. Prior to this Dave managed and operated his own Marketing Agency and completed multiple coaching qualifications. "Working for GoldCore gives you a fantastic lens through which to view global financial and geopolitical developments. I am very proud to be part of a company that contributes to increasing investors understanding of these developments." When he’s not at work, David is passionate about sailing and has completed the ‘Round Ireland Yacht Race’ twice.