--- title: "After the historic crash, CME raises gold and silver trading margins again" description: "CME has once again significantly raised the margin requirements for precious metal futures: the gold margin rate has increased from 6% to 8%, and silver from 11% to 15%. The new rules will take effect" type: "news" locale: "en" url: "https://longbridge.com/en/news/274378280.md" published_at: "2026-01-31T06:30:57.000Z" --- # After the historic crash, CME raises gold and silver trading margins again > CME has once again significantly raised the margin requirements for precious metal futures: the gold margin rate has increased from 6% to 8%, and silver from 11% to 15%. The new rules will take effect after the market closes next Monday. This adjustment follows the recent reform of the "floating margin" mechanism, highlighting the exchange's intention to accelerate deleveraging and risk control in an environment of extreme volatility. The market is concerned about a repeat of the historical scenario in 1980 or 2011 where "the exchange's intervention led to a crash." After the **largest single-day drop in decades** for gold and silver prices, the risk control measures of the exchanges were quickly implemented. On Friday, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Group (CME Group) announced that it would raise the margin requirements for Comex gold, silver, and other precious metal futures contracts. CME stated in a press release that this adjustment is based on a "normal review" of market volatility, aimed at **ensuring sufficient collateral coverage**, and will officially take effect **after the close of trading next Monday (February 2)**. ## Margin Requirements Raised Across the Board, Significantly Higher than Previous Levels According to the latest arrangements disclosed by CME: **Gold Futures:** - Non-high-risk accounts: Margin ratio raised from **6% of the current contract value to 8%** - High-risk accounts: Raised from **6.6% of the current contract value to 8.8%** **Silver Futures:** - Non-high-risk accounts: Raised from **11% to 15%** - High-risk accounts: Raised from **12.1% to 16.5%** In addition, **the margin requirements for platinum and palladium futures have also been increased**. This means that investors participating in precious metal futures trading will need to invest more cash or equivalent assets to maintain the same size positions. ## A Continuation of Previous "Floating Margin" Reforms It is worth noting that this increase is not an isolated event, but a continuation of a series of recent risk control upgrades by CME. Wallstreetcn reported that in **mid-January**, CME had just completed an important mechanism adjustment: changing the margin calculation method for gold, silver, platinum, and palladium contracts **from a fixed amount to a dynamic floating ratio based on the nominal value of the contract**. At that time, the reference ratios for some non-high-risk accounts were: - Gold approximately **5%** - Silver approximately **9%** After this round of sharp declines, **the actual execution ratios have been quickly raised to the range of 8%—16.5%**, significantly increasing the capital occupation level. **This mechanism change is highly impactful in the current volatile market.** Under the old mechanism, the margin was a fixed dollar amount; under the new mechanism, the margin fluctuates with price and volatility. This means that during market turmoil, the system will automatically require higher collateral For traders, this not only means increased instability in capital occupation but also that during periods of high volatility, leverage will be forcibly reduced. **Margin will no longer just be a static risk control tool, but an "automatic deleveraging mechanism" that expands in sync with price and volatility.** On Friday, spot silver plummeted 31% in a single day, and gold fell 11%. For the recently battered long positions, the higher margin requirements coming into effect on Monday are akin to "salting the wound." ## Exchanges Choose "Risk Control First" CME stated that this adjustment was made after a routine assessment of market volatility. Recently, the precious metals market has experienced rare and severe fluctuations: previously, gold and silver prices surged rapidly, followed by a **historic level of sharp decline**, with volatility significantly rising. In this context, the direct effects of raising margins are: - **Increasing leverage costs.** - **Compressing the margin for error in high-frequency, heavily leveraged trading.** - **Reducing the probability of settlement risk spreading within the system.** Exchanges have traditionally raised margins during **sharp rises, falls, or extreme volatility** in contracts, but this action occurring after a sharp decline further reinforces its **risk firewall** attribute. ## **The Ghost of History: Exchange Actions Often Mark Turning Points in Markets** Veteran traders on Wall Street are no strangers to this scene. Wall Street Insights mentions that historical data shows when exchanges begin to intensively limit leverage by raising margins, it often marks the end of a frenzied market or the beginning of a sharp adjustment. - **2011 Silver Price Crash:** In 2011, as silver approached the historical high of $50 per ounce, CME raised margins five times in just nine days. This series of "cooling" measures forced a large-scale deleveraging in the futures market, leading to a nearly 30% drop in silver within weeks, followed by a multi-year bear market. - **1980 Hunt Brothers Collapse:** A more famous case is "Silver Thursday" in 1980. At that time, CME issued targeted "Silver Rule 7," strictly limiting leverage, which, combined with the Federal Reserve's interest rate hikes, directly broke the funding chain of the Hunt brothers who attempted to manipulate silver prices, causing silver to crash from $50 to $10. ## Real Impact on the Market: Increased Pressure on Small Players From a market structure perspective, raising margins does not directly determine price direction but profoundly affects **the structure of participants and liquidity patterns**. Higher margin requirements mean: - Traders with weaker capital strength and reliance on high leverage may be forced to reduce positions or exit the market. - Market liquidity may further contract in the short term. - Volatility may actually be amplified in extreme cases. CME also acknowledges that such adjustments may **marginally squeeze out some traders who cannot quickly replenish margin**. ## Multiple actions this month, global exchanges tightening simultaneously Looking at a longer timeline, CME's recent actions are not isolated. - **Earlier this week**, CME raised margin requirements for silver, platinum, and palladium futures due to price increases. - **In the domestic market**, the Shanghai Futures Exchange has also raised the price fluctuation limits and margin ratios for precious metal contracts. In the context of significant amplification of global precious metal volatility, a consensus is forming at the exchange level: **prioritize suppressing systemic risk rather than indulging in leverage expansion** ### Related Stocks - [600547.CN - SD-GOLD](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/600547.CN.md) - [SGOL.US - Abrdn Gold ETF Trust](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/SGOL.US.md) - [GOEX.US - GLOBAL X Gold Explorers](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/GOEX.US.md) - [CME.US - CME](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/CME.US.md) - [SLV.US - iShares Silver Tr](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/SLV.US.md) - [IAU.US - iShares Gold Trust](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/IAU.US.md) - [GLD.US - SPDR Gold Shares](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/GLD.US.md) - [518850.CN - ChinaAMC Gold ETF](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/518850.CN.md) - [600489.CN - ZHONGJIN GOLD](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/600489.CN.md) - [SIVR.US - Abrdn Silver ETF Trust](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/SIVR.US.md) ## Related News & Research | Title | Description | URL | |-------|-------------|-----| | 达利欧家办重仓黄金！彻底退出桥水后首曝美股持仓，规模升至 5 亿美元 | 达利欧家族办公室自疫情以来首次披露美国股票投资情况。截至去年年底，其在美股市场持仓约 5.03 亿美元，较 2021 年初增长约三分之一。其中超过四分之三资金配置在黄金 ETF，其余分散布局美债及标普 500 指数等资产。分析称，这一举动显 | [Link](https://longbridge.com/en/news/276472669.md) | | 斐波那契的 61.8% 在黄金市场中——第三次未能如愿 | 黄金的斐波那契 61.8% - 第三次并不幸运 | [Link](https://longbridge.com/en/news/276474128.md) | | 黄金回归：如何在 4 月 17 日前实现盈利 | 黄金显示出看涨模式，提供了盈利机会，特别是对于 VanEck 金矿股 ETF（GDX）。GDX 目前交易价格约为 97 美元，预计到 4 月中旬价格目标为 110 美元。该模式的历史准确率为 90%，过去的收益范围在 20% 到 30% 之 | [Link](https://longbridge.com/en/news/276381758.md) | | CEO.CA 的董事会内部消息：Starcore 出售非洲资产，计划专注于墨西哥的黄金和白银生产 | CEO.CA 报道，Starcore International Mines Ltd. 已经剥离其非洲资产，以专注于在墨西哥的黄金和白银生产。该更新包含首席执行官 Robert Eadie 的见解，并突显了 CEO.CA 作为初级矿业股票投 | [Link](https://longbridge.com/en/news/276338717.md) | | 西点黄金完成了 2500 万加元的融资 | West Point Gold Corp. 成功完成了一项 2500 万加元的私人配售，发行了 22,727,300 股普通股，每股价格为 1.10 加元。此次融资涉及多个代理商，他们获得了现金佣金和经纪人认股权证。所得款项将用于亚利桑那州 | [Link](https://longbridge.com/en/news/276355512.md) | --- > **Disclaimer**: This article is for reference only and does not constitute any investment advice.