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Silver Hits $120: Why the Metal Is Exploding Like Never Seen Before in History

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TLDR:

  • Silver surged 450% to $120 adding $6 trillion in market cap amid five-year supply deficit of 678 million ounces. 
  • China export restrictions tightened global supply with Shanghai silver at $127 creating record premiums over markets. 
  • Paper-to-physical leverage at 350:1 triggered forced buying as delivery requests exposed severe physical shortages. 
  • Lease rates spiked to 39% while backwardation emerged signaling worst physical stress since 1980 silver crisis.

 

Silver prices have exploded to $120 per ounce, representing a 450% surge over two years. This historic rally added over $6 trillion to silver’s total market capitalization.

The metal now stands as the world’s best-performing asset across all categories. Multiple structural factors converged simultaneously to create this unprecedented price movement. Supply deficits, export restrictions, and paper market failures combined to fuel the explosion.

Unprecedented Supply Crisis Drives Historic Price Action

The current silver explosion stems from years of accumulated deficits rather than temporary imbalances. Bull Theory explained that global consumption exceeded production for five consecutive years before prices began accelerating.

According to the analysis, total shortages reached 678 million ounces during this period. This deficit represents almost one complete year of worldwide mine output missing from available supply.

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China’s export restrictions intensified the supply crisis to historic levels. The country controls major portions of global refined silver through processing operations.

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New licensing requirements drastically reduced the amount of metal permitted to leave Chinese borders. Physical silver inside China became increasingly scarce as Shanghai prices climbed to $127. Bull Theory noted that this premium over international markets demonstrates the severity of internal shortages.

Industrial demand growth reached levels never previously witnessed in silver markets. Solar panel manufacturing now consumes massive quantities for electrical conductivity requirements.

The report indicates annual solar demand expanding from 200 million ounces to 450 million ounces by 2030. Data center construction, artificial intelligence infrastructure, and grid electrification created additional pressure. These sectors cannot easily substitute silver due to its superior conductive properties.

The paper market’s leverage ratio exposed systemic vulnerabilities at unprecedented scales. Current estimates place paper-to-physical ratios at 350:1 across trading platforms.

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Bull Theory highlighted that for every single physical ounce, there are 350 ounces in paper claims. Increased physical delivery demands triggered forced buying as shorts scrambled for metal. This created a self-reinforcing loop pushing prices higher at accelerating rates.

Market Dislocation Reaches Historic Extremes

Lease rates spiked to 39% annualized, indicating the most severe borrowing stress in decades. Normal market conditions maintain rates near zero for precious metals lending.

The explosion to 39% revealed extreme difficulty accessing physical inventory for delivery obligations. Borrowing costs at these levels appeared only during previous historic crises.

Backwardation emerged across silver futures as spot prices exceeded forward contracts. This inversion signals desperate demand for immediate physical delivery over future promises.

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Bull Theory observed that market participants last witnessed similar backwardation patterns around 1980 during that era’s silver crisis. The reappearance confirmed structural breakdown in normal supply relationships.

Refining capacity losses compounded the supply explosion by removing 9.7% of global processing ability. Even available raw silver could not transform into deliverable bars quickly enough.

Exchange-traded funds simultaneously absorbed 95 million ounces in early 2025 alone. This removal from circulation eliminated metal that industries and contract holders desperately needed.

Strategic classification by the United States formalized silver’s critical status in August 2025. Government recognition of supply vulnerabilities marked a historic shift from commodity to strategic resource.

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Combined with multi-year deficits, Chinese export controls, industrial demand surges, paper leverage collapse, extreme lease rates, backwardation, refinery shutdowns, and ETF absorption, physical scarcity replaced paper pricing.

Bull Theory concluded that the explosion occurred because every major factor aligned simultaneously for the first time in history.

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Crypto World

Trump Urges Fed Rate Cut as Inflation Threat Grows

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Trump Urges Fed Rate Cut as Inflation Threat Grows

US President Donald Trump has again pressured the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates immediately, saying at a White House meeting that they should have a “special meeting” to reduce rates.

“What’s a better time to cut interest rates than now? A third-grade student would know that,” Trump added, according to videos shared on X. 

Trump has reiterated his calls for lower rates after stating on Truth Social on Thursday that the Federal Reserve chair “should be dropping interest rates, IMMEDIATELY.” 

The president argued in January that the US should have “substantially lower” rates and “the lowest in the world,” labelling Powell “too late” and claiming he is “hurting our country, and its National Security” by maintaining high interest rate levels.

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Trump has advocated for lower rates to reduce the cost of servicing the massive $39 trillion US national debt and stimulate economic growth, housing, and the stock market.

Lower rates can also push investors towards higher-risk assets like stocks and crypto. Cheaper borrowing costs also fuel broader market liquidity, meaning more money flows into speculative assets.

No rate changes likely at Fed’s Wednesday meeting 

The US central bank kicks off its two-day March meeting on Tuesday and is slated to announce its rate decision on Wednesday.

However, CME futures markets paint a different picture, currently indicating a 99% probability that rates will remain unchanged in the 3.50% to 3.75% this week.

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The outcome for the April 29 meeting is similar with a 97% probability of no change. 

Related: Higher CPI print for March already ‘baked in’ to BTC price — Analysts

This is despite the expectation that Trump’s pick for Fed chair replacement, Kevin Warsh, who will take the helm in mid-May when Powell’s term ends, may be more open to cutting rates.

The war with Iran has also caused a surge in oil prices, which means higher fuel costs and is likely to push up food and other goods prices via higher transport costs, leading to higher inflation, potentially prompting the Fed to raise rates

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The current rate of inflation in the US remained steady at 2.4% in February, but it is expected to rise in March, according to Trading Economics. 

US interest rates have remained unchanged since December. Source: TradingEconomics

Fed will play the waiting game 

With the US-Iran conflict’s impact on rising oil prices, “traders have already priced in the likelihood of zero cuts this year,” Jeff Mei, chief operations officer at the BTSE exchange, told Cointelegraph.

This should mean that there will be “less downward pressure on crypto asset prices,” because oil’s impact on inflation is “unclear at this point,” and the Fed will likely “continue to wait out the situation.”

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