Bullish on Bullion: Silver Surges Toward Record Territory
As gold prices soar, silver steals the spotlight with a breakout rally fueled by tight supply, trade tension, and surging demand from both investors and industry.
Editorial Team (ET)July 14, 2025
Silver just made headlines again, breaking through $39 an ounce and touching levels not seen since 2011. A 1.9% spike early Monday has extended a dramatic multi-week rally that now puts silver up more than 35% year to date, even outperforming gold, which has gained 28% in the same timeframe. What’s behind this breakout? A combination of geopolitical anxiety, industrial demand, a squeezed physical supply, and investors hunting for value in a market where gold looks prohibitively expensive.
The metal’s resurgence has caught the attention of traders worldwide, especially as the implied annualized cost of borrowing silver has jumped to over 6%, a sharp departure from its typical near-zero rate. That spike in borrowing cost is not just a technicality, it’s a flashing signal that physical silver is in short supply. In London, the traditional hub of silver storage and trade, exchange-traded funds have soaked up more than 2,570 tons of silver since February. Most of that metal is now locked up and unavailable to borrow or sell, tightening the market further and driving prices higher.
While gold remains the top-tier safe haven asset, its meteoric rise has left many investors looking for more affordable alternatives. Silver, historically dubbed “the poor man’s gold,” has stepped into the spotlight. The gold-to-silver ratio now sits at 86, meaning it takes 86 ounces of silver to buy a single ounce of gold. That’s still above the 10-year average of 80, but the trend is clearly moving in silver’s favor. With bullion becoming increasingly inaccessible for average investors, silver’s relative affordability has transformed it into the new darling of the precious metals world.
