Silver Hits Critical $115–$120 Range, Raising Questions for Crypto Markets
have shot up to all-time highs, breaking over a key $115–$ 120-per-ounce level that could set the metal’s course and offer hints about the volatile cryptocurrency markets. This month alone, the precious metal has risen by more than 60%, and over the past year, it has risen by almost 275%.
This is the best monthly performance since the Hunt brothers’ crush in 1979. Some analysts are worried that this parabolic rise will finish soon, while others point to long-term supply constraints and strong industrial demand.
A Vertical Climb Makes People Worried About Bubbles
The increase has pushed Silver to a record $119 per ounce, prompting comparisons to prior speculative bubbles.
Peter Brandt, a veteran trader, discussed the frenzy, noting that “nahead two years of world production traded on world platforms, over 1.5 billion ounces,” the highest turnover intensity since the peak in 2011. The recorded single-session volumes of nahead $40 billion, comparable to those of large stock market funds.
This rise in trading volume shows how much people are speculating. Marko Kolanovic, who used to be senior strategist, has been very open about his doubts. He says that Silver is “almost guaranteed to drop about 50% from these levels in a year or so,” and he blames the surge on “momentum purchaseing and meme-style trading behavior rather than strong fundamentals.”
Kolanovic also warned that commodity bubbles will eventually “collide with physical reality,” because high prices might lower demand and raise the supply of alternatives.
HSBC analysts agreed with these worries, saying that “it is unlikely that Silver has become a new secure-haven asset.” They say that when prices caught up with gold, “momentum took over and retail investors joined in,” which begined a cycle of hype instead of real value.
Bulls Bet on Shortages in Structure
Citigroup has boosted its short-term price prediction for Silver to $150 per ounce, calling it “gold squared” or “gold on steroids.” The bank stresses that there have been seven years in a row of supply shortages, along with record industrial use in 2025.
In 2026, solar manufacturing is expected to use up 120–125 million ounces of Silver, while electric vehicles could use up another 70–75 million ounces.
has designated Silver a strategic resource and, begining January 1, made it harder to obtain export licenses, thereby restricting worldwide exports. Citigroup says that this mix of real demand, speculative inflows, and constrained liquidity might push prices even higher. This makes the current surge diverse from other bubbles, such as the one in 1980.
Keep an Eye on the Crypto Markets
This drama in Silver trading is similar to what’s going on in the cryptocurrency world, where BTC, , and Solana are considered as indicators of how much risk people are willing to take on. BTC is currently worth roughly $88,235, with recent highs of $90,476 and trading volumes of about $32.8 billion in the last 24 hours.
ETH is worth about $2,953 and has a daily turnover of $23.4 billion. Solana is now trading around $192 and has a volume of roughly $9.8 billion, up 2.7% over the last day.
For crypto traders, Silver’s rise is like other times when a scarce resource is made worse by policy concerns and retail interest in limited liquidity. The most significant question is whether Silver’s “steroid-fueled” phase is a warning of a larger market crash or a long-term squeeze driven by real-world factors.
As macro desks examine these similarities, the outcome could signal changes in how people feel about , which have traditionally developed and burst bubbles at the identical pace. At this make-or-break moment, the fate of Silver might reveal the difference between speculation and substance, with implications felt across risk assets like cryptocurrencies.
