Today silver investment is valued by investors, and at the same time, driven by the continued development of the silver market, derivative varieties of silver investment are emerging, of which international silver and silver futures are two products that investors are familiar with. The differences between international silver and silver futures are reflected in their definitions, trading mechanisms, trading hours and trading funds.

1, The two definitions are different
International silver, also known as international spot silver, is a spot trade, which refers to delivery after the transaction is completed or within a few days, with no delivery period, and is a contractual sale and purchase using the principle of capital leverage. Silver futures, on the other hand, refers to a futures contract with the price of silver at a certain point in the future as the underlying, and is formulated by the corresponding futures exchange, which specifies detailed silver specifications, silver quality, delivery dates, etc.

2, The two trading mechanisms are different
International silver adopts a two-way trading mechanism of T+0. Investors can not only open and close positions at any time without delivery restrictions, but will be forced to close their positions in case of insufficient margin, and when the market is correctly judged, buying up and buying down can be profitable. Silver futures, on the other hand, although also traded on a two-way T+0 basis, are subject to a delivery day restriction and investors must deliver their positions at expiry, otherwise they will be forced to close their positions or take physical delivery. Of course, positions will also be forcibly closed out if there is insufficient margin.

3, The difference in trading hours between the two
5am-14am for the Asian market, 14-18pm for the European morning market, 18-20pm for the European midday break and early morning for the American market, 20am-24pm for the afternoon market and morning market for the European market, and after 24pm until early morning for the American afternoon market.
The opening hours of the European and American markets are mainly divided according to daylight saving time and winter time.
Winter time: from the Monday of the second week in November to the Saturday of the second week in March; the rest of the year is daylight saving time.
Daylight saving time: the second Sunday of March to the second Sunday of November.
Daylight saving time: European markets open at 14:30 pm (more European countries), while London markets open at 15:30 pm (most important countries)
Daylight saving time: 20:20 pm opening.
Winter time European opening time: 15:30 pm opening one after another, while the London plate opens at 16:30.
Winter time opening time for the US market: 21:30 pm opening.

4,The difference between the two trading funds
Although the margin ratio varies from trading platform to trading platform, however, most platforms are generally 100 times, i.e. investors operate 100% of silver with 1% of the capital. Silver futures, on the other hand, have a margin ratio of approximately 10 times, requiring investors to invest a larger amount of capital.