Amid the resurgence of US-Europe tariff battles, a deteriorating global geopolitical landscape, and a worldwide wave of "selling US assets," safe-haven capital is flooding into gold and silver, the two precious metals that have repeatedly hit record highs since 2025. During Tuesday's US trading session, both gold and silver prices surged further, setting new historic peaks. In Wednesday's Asian trading hours, the rally in silver futures and spot prices showed no signs of abating, launching an assault on the epic $100 per ounce milestone; as of this writing, silver futures were hovering around $94.60, after hitting an all-time high of $95.77 on Tuesday.
This week, trades related to "ditching America" once again grabbed financial headlines. Adrian Ash, head of research at BullionVault, noted that the spillover of market selling anxiety is now far broader. "With the Trump administration directly apprehending Venezuelan leaders, threatening to seize Greenland by force, levying new tariffs on European allies, and menacing Federal Reserve independence, Trump's latest assault on the established world order is frightening all investors," he added, stating that "gold and silver have hit new highs in all currencies" against a backdrop of widespread declines in global stock and bond markets.
Michael Armbruster, co-founder and managing partner at Altavest, suggested that while the news-driven stimulus from Greenland might fade quickly, the medium-term trend for precious metals remains upward. He believes the core driver of the current surge is demand-side: gold is primarily supported by central bank buying, while silver is propelled by rapidly expanding industrial demand. Armbruster pointed out that both data center infrastructure construction and Samsung's upcoming innovative silver-based batteries are boosting silver demand, while supply growth struggles to keep pace. "For investors, a more rational strategy is to buy on dips, not chase headlines," Armbruster advised.
This year, silver prices have extended their 2025 surge, prompting major commercial banks and refiners to scramble to meet unprecedented retail investor demand, with prices rising approximately one-third in just a few weeks. Retail investors in countries like Turkey and India are willing to pay high premiums to acquire this white metal, with some refineries already sold out of smaller silver bar capacity. This near-euphoric demand spike has caused shortages of silver coins and small bars, leaving precious metal refiners struggling to satisfy domestic demand while also handling unusual refining requests from retail clients abroad.
After a stunning rally in 2025, gold and silver have continued their ascent into 2026, repeatedly setting new records. Citigroup holds one of Wall Street's most aggressive bullish outlooks for precious metals, forecasting that silver prices will surge to $100 per ounce in the near term and that gold could break through $5,000 within the next three months. Citigroup stated that unprecedented high-price trends, persistent global geopolitical deterioration, uncertainty over the global economic outlook and currency values under the Trump administration, physical gold and silver shortages, and threats to Fed independence collectively provide strong support for its forecast.
The powerful force behind silver's spectacular rally—frantic global retail investors—is creating chaos for major banks and refiners racing to meet unprecedented, robust demand. From "Chinese aunties" queuing for silver jewelry in Shenzhen markets, to complete sell-outs at Turkish refineries, to the Korea Minting Corporation selling out a silver coin issuance within an hour, the dizzying surge is overwhelming capacity. After skyrocketing nearly 150% last year, the white metal has climbed even higher in 2026, extending 2025's powerful gains by rising another third in just weeks and repeatedly hitting historic highs.
The Trump administration is pushing a new era of imperialism while again threatening the independence of Federal Reserve monetary policy. China was an early epicenter of the micro-coin and small-bar consumption frenzy, but as silver prices continually刷新 records, this狂热 wave—where "silver jewelry demand, safe-havenism, and short-term speculation" perfectly coexist—is spreading globally. "This is the highest demand I have ever seen," said Firat Sekerci, General Manager of Dubai-based bullion dealer Public Gold DMCC. "Most refineries in Turkey have been critically out of stock for the past 10 days, for items like small bars—10-ounce, 100-ounce."
Sekerci noted that retail investors in Turkey are now willing to pay premiums as high as $9 per ounce over the London global benchmark price just to get physical silver; meanwhile, premiums across the Middle East remain elevated. As shown in the chart above, silver trading prices in India have surged again—with premiums jumping to robust levels near those seen in October. According to two traders familiar with the matter, this has prompted major global banks to prioritize shipping silver to Turkey and nearby regions, leading to persistently reduced shipments to India and leaving strong local demand significantly unmet.
A short-squeeze wave last October demonstrated how regional supply constraints can rapidly go global, especially for a metal like silver, which is less liquid than gold. At that time, heavy pre-Diwali stockpiling by Indian consumers, combined with tariff worries locking more supply in the US, effectively drained liquidity from the London market and drove the benchmark price to its highest level since the 1970s.
Samit Guha, CEO of MMTC-PAMP India Pvt., the country's largest precious metals refiner, stated that domestic investment demand for silver in India is now even higher than in October, with small bars and coins particularly sought after by retail investors. He emphasized that the company's gross silver imports more than doubled year-over-year between October and December, yet it still struggles to meet domestic demand while receiving unusual requests to refine more metal for clients in South Korea, the UAE, Vietnam, and Malaysia. "Whatever we produce, we sell immediately. We could supply 25% more coins and bars, and the market would absorb it all," he said.
Refiners typically focus on producing larger bars—around 1,000 ounces or 15 kilograms, the standard delivery size for major global commodity markets and exchanges. This exacerbates the shortage of coins and small bars, which are in highest demand in the retail market. Increasing production and investing in new lines to boost kilobar supply is often "uneconomical" for refiners, who have little certainty about future demand; consequently, they prefer to allocate some capacity to casting smaller bars to meet persistently strong retail demand, according to Sunil Kashyap, Managing Director of FinMet Pte Ltd., a gold and silver trader supplying refiners.
The October squeeze also depleted inventories in some regions, leaving the physical silver market without sufficient "buffer stocks." Inventories linked to the Shanghai Futures Exchange partially recovered in early December but have now retreated to the tight levels seen after the October crisis. An executive at a major refinery said the surge in retail demand scale has even prompted the return of older bars of varying purities to the market. Last week, Shanghai silver prices traded above the international benchmark, even after accounting for the 13% value-added tax borne by importers.
"Most physical retail silver purchases are made with full cash payments, not leverage, so even if prices correct, many just hold, or even add to their positions on dips," said a senior analyst from Jinrui Futures Co. "So silver demand is actually quite resilient on the downside."
Beyond major gold and silver consuming nations, an "insatiable appetite" for silver is spreading worldwide. Last week, South Korean buyers snapped up all the 1-kilogram small bars offered by the Korea Minting Corporation in under an hour; meanwhile, Singaporeans queued for up to 90 minutes to buy physical silver. Misleading or false market information has also fueled retail buying. Confusion arose around a policy update from China in October regarding export licenses—which was essentially a continuation of existing rules—with some analysts, media, and social media influencers interpreting it as a restriction or even a full ban, thereby amplifying market perceptions of silver scarcity.
"Strong physical demand at the retail level is keeping silver prices near historic highs," said Nikos Kavalis, Managing Director of renowned precious metals consultancy Metals Focus. "Retail-driven silver sales have further room to rise, and whether this number sustains will be key to the price rally."
Whether retail buying will eventually cool if silver prices continue to rise remains one of the biggest questions in the precious metals market. As US President Donald Trump dismantles the rules-based international order and a host of other economic and political risks loom globally, precious metals currently offer investors one of the few relatively safe financial harbors. Public Gold's Sekerci sees no let-up in demand. "What else can investors put their money in?" he said. "The US President is creating problems, and the US dollar can't hold up. Silver and gold will certainly be better."
The "Silver Rhapsody" is approaching its epic $100 movement. In 2025, gold and silver prices recorded their best annual performance since 1979, and this powerful rally has continued into early 2026. Aggressive buying by global central banks, massive inflows into exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and three consecutive Fed rate cuts have all supported precious metal prices. Generally, lower borrowing costs are a long-term positive for non-yielding commodities.
In short, the core logic behind silver's ferocious rally since 2025 can be summarized as: "macro expectations of lower Fed benchmark rates + structurally tight supply + a reinforced industrial growth narrative + momentum funds/speculative forces/FOMO (fear of missing out) sentiment" collectively propelling silver prices into an unparalleled "precious metals acceleration phase."
The repricing of the industrial demand narrative is a novel aspect of this silver surge. As highlighted by the Silver Institute in its latest report: booming AI data center construction, the electrification/renewable energy (including solar) transition trend, and the global shift to electric vehicles, combined with a persistent supply-demand deficit, mean silver is no longer just "following gold." The Institute stated that the solar industry's 17% CAGR, the EV industry's 13% CAGR, and the explosive expansion of global AI data centers form the three pillars of silver demand growth.
The Institute's report forecasts that these sectors will continue to drive industrial silver demand through 2030, particularly noting that global data center IT power capacity grew 53-fold, from 0.93 gigawatts in 2000 to nearly 50 gigawatts in 2025. This exponential growth implies vastly more servers, switches, and cooling systems worldwide, each requiring silver in its core components. The Institute emphasized that silver's large-scale penetration in data centers is based on three key properties: highest electrical conductivity ensuring minimal energy loss in server power transmission, crucial for data centers requiring 99.999% uptime; excellent thermal conductivity helping maintain safe operating temperatures and reducing cooling energy consumption (cooling systems account for 7-30% of total data center energy use); and high corrosion resistance protecting components under high electrical loads and temperature fluctuations.
In the view of some commodity-focused senior analysts and traders, silver's recent parabolic rise and supply-demand gap, supporting its push for the best performance since 1979 despite trading well above oil prices, lay a crucial foundation for breaching the super-psychological $100 barrier. For instance, Wall Street giant Citigroup expects silver to surge to $100 per ounce in the near term, significantly raising its 0-3 month target from $62 to $100.
Philippe Gijsels, a senior strategist at BNP Paribas, believes that with strong impetus from the Fed's rate-cutting cycle and market fervor, silver's rally will extend through 2026, and he considers it "very possible" for silver to reach $100/oz by end-2026. Keith Neumeyer, CEO of First Majestic, has publicly expressed his long-term view for triple-digit silver prices (above $100) multiple times in interviews since 2025.
Lyn Alden, a renowned macro strategist and founder of the investment newsletter "Lyn Alden Investment Strategy," recently stated in an interview with VRIC Media that silver is more likely to hit the $100 mark in 2026, but it may no longer be a "low-risk, high-reward" opportunity. "I now think it's a more symmetrical high-risk trade; I wouldn't be shocked if it goes to $100 next year, or if it goes to $40 next year," she emphasized, noting she remains "long silver" but is "tempering her future return expectations" as it has "already realized much of her thesis."
Josh Phair, Founder and CEO of precious metals manufacturer and distributor Scottsdale Mint, stated in an interview: "We are in a battle for metal resources." "The US is rapidly building these data centers; America must have it [physical silver] to protect its standing in the world. When you factor in inflation, the price of silver is still low." "If you adjust the $50 silver price of 1980 for inflation, it's over $200. So, you could even argue that silver today is still quite cheap," he added.