Silver market participants can be downright passionate when it comes to the topic of silver price manipulation. What are the key events and theories? From the Hunt brothers to social media’s “silver squeeze,” silver price manipulation is a longstanding and much-discussed feature of the silver market. Silver price manipulation dates back to 1979 to 1980, when oil baron brothers William and Nelson Hunt reportedly bought upwards of 35 million ounces of silver worth at least US$1 billion. The Hunt brothers were buying both physical silver and silver futures, and were taking physical delivery on futures contracts instead of settling for cash. Their actions ultimately sent the white metal’s price soaring to nearly US$50, which is still its highest price to date.