COMEX-Approved Depositories Explained: Why America’s Bullion is Stored in One Corner of the Country

 

COMEX-Approved Depositories Explained: Why America’s Bullion is Stored in One Corner of the Country

COMEX is a commodities exchange that specializes in the trade of futures for precious metals, including gold, silver, copper, and more. It is the largest market for precious metal futures in the world. A COMEX-approved depository is a precious metals depository approved to store precious metals that clear COMEX’s strict requirements for the physical settlement of futures contracts.

All COMEX-approved gold depositories are currently located within a 150-mile radius of New York City, prompting concerns that the geographical concentration of approved depositories may increase systemic risk, reduce liquidity, and weaken competition. Earlier this year, representatives in Congress introduced the SILVER Act, a piece of legislation that would mandate the approval of at least two COMEX-approved bullion depositories in each continental U.S. time zone.

On this page, learn what COMEX-approved depositories are, what they do, and how the SILVER Act might impact the larger precious metals market.

What is a COMEX-Approved Depository?

A COMEX-approved depository is a facility authorized by the Commodity Exchange (COMEX) to hold precious metals suitable for the settlement of physical futures contracts. These depositories are vetted by COMEX to meet stringent quality control standards. When a futures contract is physically settled, meaning that the buyer of the contract allows it to expire and takes ownership of the contract’s precious metals, it is the metal at a COMEX-approved facility that they now own.

To become a COMEX-approved depository, institutions must prove both their ability to financially satisfy their depository duties and their adherence to clear security, auditing, compliance, and quality control standards.

Precious metals stored in COMEX-approved depositories are also strictly monitored to ensure that they meet stringent quality requirements. These depositories are only permitted to accept precious metals from approved refiners, and stored metals must meet or exceed minimum purities set by COMEX. These minimums are 99.5% for gold and 99.9% for silver.

While COMEX-approved depositories are some of the most secure and consistently audited depositories in the world, they are not the same as other regulated depositories, like those approved for the storage of IRA gold and silver. 

Registered vs. Eligible Metal

Precious metals stored in COMEX-approved depositories fall into two categories: eligible and registered.

Eligible precious metals meet the minimum standards set by COMEX, but they are not yet attached to a warrant or a contract. Think of eligible precious metals as your coat checked in the coat-check room at a theater. The coat is present, but it is not yet ready to be handed over until it’s marked with a numbered claim ticket by the employees.

Registered metals have also already passed the quality standards set by COMEX, but they have been issued an exchange warrant and are available for use in active contracts or to complete delivery of settled contracts. These metals are your coat with a claim number and your name attached. Your coat is now marked as ‘ready’ and can be picked up whenever you choose.

Together, these two categories make up the total amount of qualified precious metal at a given COMEX-approved depository.

Why Are COMEX Depositories All in One Place?

COMEX-approved depositories are highly centralized in the American Northeast by design. COMEX rules require approved gold depositories to be located within a 150-mile radius of New York City, where the exchange is based.

This geographical restriction does not apply to silver depositories. That’s why CNT in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, is an approved depository for silver contracts, despite being around roughly 180 miles away from NYC. 

Here’s Why Concentration Is a Risk

The high concentration of COMEX-approved depositories around New York City has prompted criticism from industry leaders and lawmakers. Because 100% of COMEX-approved depositories for gold are located within a 150-mile radius of NYC and all gold and silver depositories approved for COMEX storage are in the Northeastern region of the United States, critics argue that the system is at unique risk for several reasons.

Some risks cited by critics of the current geographical concentration of COMEX-approved bullion depositories include:

1. Natural disasters. A natural disaster that renders a major COMEX-approved depository inoperable could lead to a major disruption on the COMEX exchange, especially if it happens to coincide with heightened demand or a spike in physical order settlement requests in the region.
2. Security concerns. While COMEX-approved depositories are required to follow strict safety protocols, the geographical proximity of these institutions heightens the stakes in the case of events like civil unrest, a cyber attack, or physical security incidents. Since these depositories are all in the same region, any regional risk could create a market-wide disruption.
3. Delivery failures. Downstream from both natural disasters and regional security breaches, any major disruption could lead to massive delivery failures across the market.
4. Logistical bottlenecks. Concentration of COMEX-approved depositories can create logistical and shipping bottlenecks during periods of heightened demand. Depositories contract armored car drivers for deliveries, but these local services become a limited resource when demand spikes.
5. Lack of competition. Opponents of the current geography of COMEX-approved depositories allege that it stifles competition, limiting innovation in supply chain optimization and keeping prices for delivery elevated.
6. Limited number of operators. The limited number of operators at COMEX-approved depositories in the status quo means that the entire U.S. bullion trade market hinges on a small number of individuals and logistical operations. A small mistake in the regional supply chain could lead to major disruptions in the larger market.
7. Consumer confidence. The lack of COMEX-approved depositories in most U.S. time zones is a real risk to confidence among market actors. When major risks emerge, the high geographic concentration of approved facilities can compound investor anxieties, putting the larger market’s confidence at risk.

The 2026 SILVER Act was introduced to reduce these perceived risks to the infrastructure of COMEX-approved depositories.

The SILVER Act: A Proposed Fix

The System Integrity through Licensed Vault Expansion and Resilience (SILVER) Act is a piece of legislation introduced in March of 2026. If passed, the law would require the approval of new Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)-approved depositories in each time zone in the continental United States.

According to Representative Russ Fulcher (ID-01), the legislation would serve to protect the infrastructure of the precious metals market in cases of natural disaster or national emergency.

Having metal depositories located in more than one region in the United States will provide Americans across the country with affordable access to metal exchanges and safeguard assets in the event of a national emergency or extreme weather event. I’m proud to introduce The SILVER Act, which requires the approval of at least two depositories in the Eastern, Central, Mountain, and Pacific time zones, strengthening system integrity and resiliency.

This law would diversify COMEX-approved depositories geographically, reducing the structural risk posed by natural disasters or national emergencies, increasing competition to improve efficiency, and more.

What It Means for Everyday Investors

Simply put, the geographic concentration of COMEX-approved vaults in the Northeast has very little impact on everyday investors. Physical gold and silver stackers store their own precious metals, and the bullion products you add to your gold IRA are stored in IRA-approved vaults – not COMEX-approved depositories.

However, the SILVER Act could have a few indirect impacts on the larger physical precious metals market. Here are some ways that increasing the geographical diversity of COMEX-approved gold and silver depositories could change things for the average investor:

• • Lower risk of paper/physical price decoupling. Because the spot prices of gold and silver are discovered on COMEX, major settlement disruptions can widen bid-ask spreads by decoupling physical metal quotes from paper spot prices. Proponents of the SILVER Act argue that diversifying the locations of COMEX-approved depositories lowers this risk, since large-scale disruptions are exacerbated by the concentration of COMEX depositories in one small region.
  • Lower risk of retail availability droughts. A large-scale disruption to existing COMEX depositories in the status quo can impact wholesale availability, which leads to a downstream retail supply deficit that can drive premiums higher. The SILVER Act is intended to reduce the larger impact of localized depository disruptions by diversifying the location of COMEX-approved depositories.
  • Improved market confidence. For some investors, the fact that the metal backing the American paper gold market is almost entirely concentrated in a 150-mile radius of New York City seems like a major source of risk. Reducing this geographical concentration may improve investor confidence in the COMEX market for gold and silver.

In practice, the passage of the SILVER Act would likely have only a minor effect on the larger physical market. Physical gold coins, bars, and rounds are routinely traded and stored outside of the Commodity Exchange system, and any benefit offered by heightened geographical diversity in the COMEX-approved depository infrastructure would likely begin at the institutional level before trickling down to wholesale and, finally, retail shops.

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Frequently Asked Questions About COMEX-Approved Depositories

How Many COMEX Depositories Are There?

As of 2026, there are roughly a dozen COMEX-approved gold depositories in the U.S. Each of these facilities is within a 150-mile radius of New York City, where the Commodity Exchange is located.

Can I Store My Gold in a COMEX Depository?

You cannot store your own gold or other precious metals at COMEX-approved depositories. These depositories are used to store metals for the backing and settlement of futures contracts. If you buy precious metals for your Individual Retirement Account (IRA), they are stored at IRA-approved depositories, which are separate from the COMEX depositories used to back futures contracts.

What’s the Difference Between a COMEX Depository and a Gold IRA Depository?

A gold IRA depository is an approved facility where consumers store the metals for their Individual Retirement Accounts. These secure storage locations are approved by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). A COMEX-approved depository is approved by the Commodity Exchange under its parent company, CME Group. These depositories store precious metals that back futures contracts on the COMEX futures exchange.

Is There Actually Enough Metal to Cover the Contracts?

On paper, COMEX-approved depositories do not have enough metal to cover all active contracts. In practice, only a very small percentage (<1%) of precious metal futures contracts are physically settled. Although demand spikes are possible and depository owners can designate eligible metals as registered, even this would not make covering all active contracts possible if buyers decided to physically settle at the same time.

Final Thoughts: All About COMEX-Approved Depositories

The Commodity Exchange (COMEX) is the largest gold futures market in the world. A COMEX-approved depository is a secure facility that has been approved by COMEX to store metals for its futures contracts. Because of regulations set by COMEX, approved gold depositories must be within a 150-mile radius of New York City, where the futures exchange is based.

Introduced in 2026, the SILVER Act seeks to diversify the geographical distribution of these approved future facilities by requiring the CFTC approval of at least two facilities in each continental United States time zone. The law has been introduced to Congress but has not yet been voted on.

You might also be interested in:

• The 2026 SILVER Act: What It Means for Precious Metals
• Precious Metals Storage: How to Keep Your Investment Safe
• What Is a Gold IRA?