Demand for Physical Metals Is Accelerating, and We Are Scaling with It
Demand for physical metals is accelerating—and we are scaling with it. Today’s updates highlight how we are enhancing our platform, reinforcing physical backing, and improving service to support you in this environment.
New Year – Improved Systems and options
To better support our growing client base, we are upgrading our systems and processes to enhance your experience, privacy, and service quality:
• Our new onboarding process for personal and joint accounts is slightly more comprehensive upfront, which helps prevent follow-up requests later when you access advanced services. Singapore citizens and residents can also conveniently expedite much of the process via their national identification.
• More secure, more user-friendly communication. Because email can be insecure and unreliable, we provide an encrypted notifications interface to protect your communications with us. This system will soon be upgraded with a cleaner, more intuitive interface and the option for you to rate interactions (1–5 stars), helping us continuously improve based on your feedback.
• More personalized service. Where applicable, clients will increasingly be supported by a dedicated Customer Service or Relationship Manager who understands their account and needs. This phased rollout is designed to deliver quicker responses, clearer communication, and a more consistent service experience.
Peer to Peer Loan Rates, particularly USD, have spiked as high a 9% pa
Strong demand for physical bullion has also driven exceptional growth in secured lending activity, with around 1,800 loans now closing each month on our platform.
Previously, the market saw an abundance of lenders, which kept typical rates around 4.5% p.a. Today, borrowing demand has risen sharply, and transacted rates—particularly in USD—have increased to approximately 9% p.a. As a result, quality lenders are now in high demand.
Revised SGD / EUR / USD 5,000 Minimum from 3,000 for P2P Loans
The significant rise in precious metal prices in 2025 has increased the value of a 500 oz silver parcel—a very popular parcel size—to over USD 40,000, while a 100-gram gold bar is now worth around USD 14,500.
At 50% and 62.5% LTV, a silver parcel owner can borrow at least USD 20,000, and a 100-gram gold parcel owner can borrow approximately USD 9,000. It has therefore become increasingly unattractive for borrowers to match very small lending offers (e.g. USD 3,000–5,000), as this would result in highly inefficient 300%–700% over-collateralisation.
As a result, smaller lending offers are increasingly not being accepted by borrowers and often remain unfilled. To address this, we will increase the minimum P2P lending offer amount to SGD / USD / EUR 5,000, effective February 1st.
Outstanding Unfunded Orders for New (Non-Storage) Clients to be Limited to One
As demand for physical precious metals continues to grow and market volatility increases, we have seen a rise in clients placing multiple unfunded buy or retail sell-back orders at different price levels, then selecting only the most favorable order and requesting the cancellation of the others.
Because each buy and sell order is a firm contract under our terms and conditions—and requires us to source, hedge, and price metals accordingly—cancellations create operational and market costs.
To ensure faster service for genuine orders and a fair experience for all clients, we will introduce a default limit of one unfunded buy or retail sell-back order per client.
This change primarily affects newer clients and does not apply to:
- S.T.A.R. Storage clients who store metal with us
- Clients assigned to a Customer Service or Relationship Manager
- Clients who pre-fund their orders
S.T.A.R. Gram holdings are always fully backed by physical precious metals
Every gram in your account corresponds to real bullion held in our vault. Clients can view photographs of the actual bars, and each holding is allocated to specific bars—providing legal ownership of metal, not merely a claim against us.
This approach is fundamentally different from most metal savings programs, which are often structured as IOUs, offer limited transparency, and are unlikely to be fully backed at all times.
To maintain a system that is genuinely 100% backed, we clearly distinguish between two types of orders:
- In-stock orders – where metal is already available in our vault and can be allocated immediately.
- Pre-orders – where metal is purchased, in transit to our vault, and allocated to you once it arrives.
To provide a smooth experience, we normally hold additional metal beyond the 100% reserve requirement. This buffer allows most orders to be fulfilled immediately. Whenever new client orders are placed, we purchase additional bullion to replenish and grow this buffer.
During periods of exceptionally high demand, clients may purchase metal faster than we can restock. When this happens, the buffer can be temporarily exhausted. You can still place orders and lock in your price as usual, but your metal will be allocated once the next shipment arrives. These are referred to as pre-orders, and they are fulfilled in the order they are received.
While your order is open and the metal is in transit, your position is temporarily a contractual claim against us. Once the bullion arrives and is allocated, that claim is replaced with direct legal ownership of fully insured physical metal held in our Singapore vault.
This structure compares very favourably with most precious metal accounts, which are often permanent IOUs with no identifiable physical backing, or where client metal may be used for other purposes, such as being resold as inventory.
By contrast, our system is designed to uphold a higher standard of ownership—so that even when you cannot yet touch the metal, you can be confident you will receive specific, allocated bullion as shipments arrive.
For clients who would like more detail on how S.T.A.R. Grams are backed, allocated, and fulfilled, we have outlined this in our S.T.A.R. Grams, Frequently Asked Questions.
S.T.A.R. Grams – Current Supply
As demand for S.T.A.R. Grams grows, we continuously increase our buffer metal to support smooth fulfilment. During periods of unusually strong demand, large orders can temporarily exhaust this buffer. This has been the case last week, but we re-established a new 3% to 10% buffer as of January 14th.
For transparency, you can view the near real-time buffer level (the percentage over 100%) at any time at https://silverbullion.com.sg/STAR-Grams:
You can be reassured that:
- We fully own and have fully paid for over USD 60 million in physical precious metals, part of which supports S.T.A.R. Grams to ensure reliable allocation.
- If supply conditions were ever to become unreliable, we would suspend new orders rather than compromise backing or delivery integrity.
Physical supply remains manageable, but given current conditions, clients may wish to consider allocating into physical metal—via S.T.A.R. Grams, S.T.A.R. Parcels, or physical delivery—while availability remains healthy.
Wishing you are a great start into 2026!
Gregor J. Gregersen