Silver’s Wild Week Caught the Market Off Guard
- If it felt like your dollars barely kept up last year, you weren’t imagining it. In 2025 alone, Americans lost nearly -40% of their gold buying power and about -60% of their silver buying power—far more erosion than the headlines let on.
- Gold and silver did not suddenly become expensive, they simply exposed how much weaker paper currencies have become when measured against something real
- Silver in particular is wearing two hats right now, it is both money and a critical industrial metal, which means demand keeps growing while supply does not magically expand
- Governments are starting to treat silver like what it actually is, a strategic resource, with restrictions, critical mineral designations, and national stockpiling becoming more common
- The wild silver price swings you see on screens mostly reflect paper trading, not the physical reality, real metal inventories are shrinking even as demand rises
- Physical bullion ownership matters more in environments like this, paper promises work fine until everyone asks for delivery at the same time
- Industrial users are already signaling stress by offering premiums over spot prices just to secure future silver supply, that is not speculation, that is urgency
- Gold continues to act as the financial truth teller, reminding us that currency weakness is often slow, quiet, and ignored until it becomes impossible to miss
- This cycle feels different from past spikes because it is driven by structural shortages, geopolitical competition, and real-world demand, not just investor excitement
- The road ahead is likely to stay volatile, but volatility is not the same as risk, the bigger risk is assuming paper money will somehow regain strength without changing the forces weakening it
Last week in 2025, silver surged to nearly $84 an ounce before swinging wildly all week and closing above $72, a high volatility stretch that shook the market.
From a blistering Asian-market surge to a brutal midweek sell-off, here’s what really drove silver’s dramatic price action and why it matters now.
It doesn't make me dance: last year, in 2025 alone, US citizens lost nearly –40% in their gold bullion and –60% in their silver bullion buying power.
The spot silver price ripped to open this trading week in Asian hours, ticking nearly $84 oz to a new nominal price high, only to suffer a violent sell-off in a few up-and-down waves through the week.
Silver closed at $72.86 oz bid for the week.
The spot gold price mostly sold off on the week, ending at $4,332 oz bid.
The spot gold-to-silver ratio fell to 54 on silver's explosive strength last Sunday night, only to end this week at 59 oz of spot silver to afford one troy ounce of spot gold.
Here is a closer look at that crazy Sunday 12/28/2025 evening into New Year's Day trading for silver.
Hopefully, you're not out there levered long, playing in these insanely volatile paper markets.
Sticking with physical bullion for the long pull is the best way to handle this trade.
As well as sticking with the facts, the best you can.
The day after Christmas, Elon Musk made silver headlines when he expressed concerns about reports that China is apparently prioritizing China first when it comes to its industrial silver supplies and ongoing demand.
The other issue is that China's EV car manufacturer BYD is eating Tesla's lunch in global auto sales, with much more competitive pricing and growing markets in emerging regions to sell to.
The next day, @jameshenryand my post here went viral on Twitter. 4.7 million views, reminding people that silver is still a store of value, even if industrialists think they should have it all. Not gonna happen.
A couple of days later, after my post, degenerate gambling market maker Polymarket stole my copy, and Elon Musk responded, Wow!
The biggest problem was that their social media account was again inaccurate, and 2 days late on the data.
See, I know nominally silver looks expensive; in absolute value terms, it's still cheap. We're not even at historical fair value levels yet.
Call me when 25 ounces of silver bullion buys the nominal S&P 500.
We've got a long, wild ride ahead. Buckle up, Silver Squeezers.
This bullion bull will be rowdy, mainly to the real value upside.
