Is it empty, young man?

Gold plummeted from $5600 to about $4700. Silver dropped from $121 to $77.
Platinum and palladium also suffered heavily.
All of this happened in less than 36 hours, and when you calculate the total value of losses across all precious metals globally, it amounts to about $7 trillion.
This morning, Trump announced the nomination of Kevin Walsh as the next chairman of the Federal Reserve, replacing Jerome Powell, whose term ends in May.
Walsh is known as an inflation hawk, focusing on combating inflation and maintaining a strong dollar, which is in complete contrast to traders' bets over the past few months.
The entire rise in metals was built on a simple narrative, where traders assumed Trump would pick someone who would aggressively cut interest rates and weaken the dollar.
When that occurs, precious metals become more valuable as people lose confidence in fiat currencies.
Traders built up significant leveraged bets, wagering that metals would continue to soar, using borrowed funds to amplify potential gains.
But when Walsh—a well-known inflation hawk—was nominated, the entire logic reversed completely.
Suddenly, every trader betting on interest rate cuts and a weaker dollar realized they were wrong.
They needed to sell to cover their losses.
The sell-off cascaded very quickly, as once it started, leverage was violently liquidated.
Banks and market makers raised margin requirements for futures contracts, forcing small traders to sell regardless of their willingness.
Forced selling further depressed prices, triggering more liquidations and creating a vicious cycle.
Additionally, as the market digested the reality of the incoming hawkish Federal Reserve, the dollar strengthened.
A stronger dollar made it cheaper for international buyers to purchase metals, reducing buying interest.
Whenever metals dropped a few more percentage points, more traders were liquidated, and the sell-off accelerated even more.
The key to understand is that the metal crash was not due to a change in fundamentals.
China still imposes export controls on silver, physical supplies remain genuinely tight, and industrial demand still exists.
They crashed because the narrative of Federal Reserve policy completely reversed in a single announcement, erasing crowded speculative trades that were entirely built on betting the Fed and a weaker dollar.