All that glitters is not gold — at least in the eyes of former U.S. Rep. Ron Paul.

On CNBC's "Futures Now" Tuesday, the esteemed market watcher said that if there's one thing investors should be buying right now, it's silver.

"About a month ago I bought some and so far it looks pretty good, especially [this week]," said Paul. Silver hit its highest level since June 2015 on Tuesday, fueled by a softer dollar and buying in China. The precious metal is now up 23 percent on the year, outpacing , which has risen 18 percent in the same period.

"Some people say that silver has been demonetized and it's a commercial metal," contended Paul, a former Republican presidential candidate. "But I think gold is money and silver is still money," he said.

Paul noted that he has been invested in both gold and silver for the better part of the last 45 years. "When Bretton Woods closed down I bought for the next decade gold and silver and held it as my nest egg for protection against ups and downs [in the market]," he said. In 1971, President Richard Nixon suspended the convertibility of dollars into gold, which marked the end to the Bretton Woods era.

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According to Paul, with many assets around the world in bubble territory, silver could be one of the safer places for investors to hide.

"I wouldn't buy bonds. I think that's in a huge bubble," he said. In addition to bonds, Paul noted that the air is beginning to get let out of the U.S. dollar as well as equities.

"We are defying gravity. These things can't go up forever," he said. "I think we are facing a downturn that's probably a lot worse than 2008-2009."