The January silver contract sets the record for inactive contracts as more than 49 million oz trade hands

Jan 29, 2026 3:00 PM

++++++++++++++++++ Silver

The January silver contract will go down in history for the most physical silver traded on an inactive contract. With one day to last notice, 9,889 contracts (49.4 million oz) have traded. Volume today (as of 3:00 PM) is 1,200 contracts so there will probably be a further bump.

The total surpasses most active month contracts as you can see on the plot below:

The biggest buyer was JP Morgan customer accounts however those accounts were also the largest seller. CitiBank’s house account was the second largest buyer and Wells Fargo’s house account the third largest.

The upcoming February contract is also an inactive month. Open interest with one day to first notice is 2,572 contracts which is about double the typical but only about half of the January contract at this point in the cycle. See the plot below:

++++++++++++++++++ Gold

The January gold contract has had 11,862 contracts delivered so far which is about the same as the prior 3 inactive contracts. That is elevated compared to pre-25 data but off compared to early 2025 contracts:

The upcoming February gold contract is an active month. Open interest with one day to first notice was running high to trend but has sold off over the last 2 days and is now 38,672 which is about typical at one day to first notice:

Tune in tomorrow and we’ll see who is buying gold north of $5k.