The "game" of gold reservation prices behind the Jero crisis.

Why not choose a regular futures exchange? On the one hand, there is a significant difference in margin ratios; on the other hand, "the main issue is the trading hours. Water Bay merchants are basically trading 24 hours a day, and often can't hedge in a timely manner, especially when the market is highly volatile," said an industry insider. However, it is worth noting that some Water Bay merchants are gradually moving away from the purpose of hedging and leaning towards "speculating in gold." "The temptation of 'speculating in gold' is very strong. How much money can a small business owner make in a month? Trading gold on these platforms has a low threshold. If you predict the market correctly and leverage the trading of gold, you can make money quickly," said Fu Ming. In terms of platform security, it is understood that in the Water Bay market, it is sometimes difficult to discern the compliance level of the merchants. These merchants' platforms basically operate both compliant and non-compliant businesses at the same time, "some are used for hedging, some speculate on price fluctuations, and some engage in physical trading," said Xiao Xi. Jeorge Ru is a typical example. A Water Bay merchant familiar with Jeorge Ru told reporters that the company provides both physical and non-physical trading. In the blurred gray area where the boundaries are unclear, Water Bay merchants actually face significant operational risks every day. It is understood that some Water Bay peers have encountered significant liquidity shortfalls in trading with Jeorge Ru. Why not choose to cooperate with relatively formal and large-scale merchants? An industry insider told reporters, "Formal and reliable merchants have stronger bargaining power, and their market prices are very high. For example, while other merchants may add 5 yuan to the market price of 1 gram of gold, Jeorge Ru can do it for only around 1.5 yuan, which is also a major reason for the large user base of Jeorge Ru."