Thank you for your response. Financial institutions (or anyone else for that matter) do not have to have the physical metals to back what they buy, sell or trade. This is why the metals markets are flawed. The physical metals trade at the same price as the paper (unless there are shortages, for example). If investors don't demand physical, than voila, manipulators win.

Digital assets such as the ones I mentioned in the article (with the exception of Ethereum which does not have a fixed cap) are governed by code that ensures inflation rates are capped. They can not be counterfeited, shut down, or confiscated (unless kept on an exchange). These features alone make them unique in the investment world. Speculation? Perhaps, but if you look at the history of Bitcoin for example you see a different story, now. Speculation leads to bubbles and inevitable poppings. Bitcoin at eight years old has lived through a couple of these periods, recovered, based out, and moved onward and upward.

Good luck to you. I didn't mean to throw cold water on precious metals, either. It's just extremely frustrating to see investors in what should be very valuable commodities (can it be denied that physical gold and silver are real money and paper is temporary?) getting hosed by Keynesian economists and central authorities hell bent on staying in power.