Top governments hoarding gold and silver (China, Russia, India, etc...)
The Indian scenario is getting worse. We (?) demonetized (banned our own currency!) & did lot of other stupid things. The growth has plummeted. Now the central government is begging for billions of cash from the Central Bank (RBI). The RBI was one of the best institutions which was headed by economists like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raghuram_Rajan .
Considering India is one of the hungriest civilization when it comes to the appetite for gold and silver, whatever is shaping up in India could have an impact on the global prices.
More on the recent drama is here : https://www.economist.com/business/2018/11/08/indias-banking-system-is-flirting-with-a-lehman-moment
Raghuram Rajan
Raghuram Govind Rajan (born 3 February 1963) is an Indian economist and an international academician who is the Katherine Dusak Miller Distinguished Service Professor of Finance at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. He was the 23rd Governor of the Reserve Bank of India between September 2013 and September 2016. Between 2003 and 2006, Rajan was the Chief Economist and Director of Research at the International Monetary Fund. In 2015, during his tenure at the Indian Reserve Bank he also became Vice-Chairman of the Bank for International Settlements.At the Federal Reserve annual Jackson Hole conference in 2005, Rajan warned about the growing risks in the financial system and proposed policies that would reduce such risks.
Definitely India is a major player and their gold/silver hoarding goes beyond investment: jewelry. I'm extremely shocked how India is ruining itself like that. Plus, the Indian government acting against bitcoin is another short-sighted decision. Pakistan may be pointing their finger and laughing at India for this :(
I wish someone in the government and political parties had a similar feeling ...
Well, We don't even like our own Currency that we banned it ! ie, we banned even Indian Rupees. You are talking about that random Satoshi's Bitcoin ? come on. You are barking at the wrong crazy-tree - may be you are barking at a BIG-CANNABIS-TREE :-D
The Pakistan reference is quite funny here - the joke is that, until recently they used to print the notes for India and once they stopped the government is begging the central bank for more money. Earlier, they were allegations that counterfeit Indian notes are printed by Pakistan to "destabilize" India.
On serious notes, The ex Indian Central Bank Governor was an Engineer - IIT + MIT and then he became an economist. He was interested in exploring Bitcoin and Blockchain's in general. What I feel is we need people with knowledge at the decision making positions irrespective of which country it is. Until few years ago, India had the unique case of a Rocket Scientist for its President, An internationally acclaimed economist for it Prime Minister - both of them were not really politicians too. Its not about Education or Phds but those people had "knowledge" and wisdom. I feel this is a lesson for any nation while selecting its rulers. Whether someone is a good "leader" is not should be based on politics but it should be based on track record. What that person did with her/his life should bet he means to elect ones rules and not some ideology. Personally Iam not interested in politics or governance but I feel I have lived to see some of the most governance.