Friday, January 30, 2026, will be recorded as one of the most volatile days in modern financial history. global commodities markets suffered a historic capitulation.
Spot gold plummeted over 12% in a single session, while silver crashed nearly 35%, wiping out months of gains in a matter of hours. The panic spread across asset classes, triggering a massive liquidity crisis.
The Crash by the Numbers
Data verified from global trading desks confirms the scale of the devastation:
- Gold (XAU/USD): After trading above the psychological $5,400/oz mark earlier in the week, prices entered a freefall, bottoming out near $4,709.68/oz. The single-day decline of 12.41% represents a statistical anomaly rarely seen in sovereign-backed assets.
- Silver (XAG/USD): The metal suffered a catastrophic loss of nearly 35%, breaking through every major technical support level and leaving industrial and retail bulls trapped.
- Liquidation Cascade: The extreme volatility triggered a "margin call tsunami." According to verified liquidation data:
- Over 270,000 traders were liquidated globally.
- Total liquidations exceeded $1.7 billion.
- Notably, this liquidity crunch created a contagion effect; data indicates approximately $1.4 billion of these liquidations originated from the cryptocurrency sector, as leveraged traders were forced to sell digital assets to cover margin calls in traditional commodities.
