Devil's Metal Rally - ForkLog: cryptocurrencies, AI, singularity, the future

# Devil’s Metal Rally

Silver Lessons for Crypto Investors

By the end of 2025, silver is increasingly emerging from the shadow of gold. Beyond short-term price movements, the current rally offers a valuable perspective for analyzing scarcity, practical value, and diversification — parallels that are relevant not only for traditional financial markets but also in terms of Bitcoin’s evolution and the broader digital asset space.

Silver prices in December reached a new all-time high above $72 per ounce, continuing an impressive rally in which the metal has gained over 136% since the beginning of the year. In terms of growth rate, silver outpaces gold, which has increased by about 65% in 2025, remaining a more traditional “safe haven.”

At the time of writing, the market capitalization of silver approached close to $4 trillion, placing “devil’s metal,” as silver is sometimes called, among the world’s largest assets — recently surpassing Google in this metric.

Spot silver price in USD. Source: Investing.com. The current boom in spot silver prices reflects a combination of factors, including international tensions, changes in monetary policy, and a surge in industrial demand for the metal. A new price record has been set amid overall market volatility, including in the cryptocurrency sector, prompting comparisons between the two asset classes and allowing investors to draw potential lessons.

What is Behind the Silver Price Rise

The rise in silver is fueled by a sustained global supply deficit, which, according to the Silver Institute, will amount to about 180 million ounces in 2025. This marks the fifth consecutive year that production has lagged behind consumption.

Unlike gold, which also hit record highs above $4000 per ounce, silver benefits from a dual role, serving both as a store of value and as a vital industrial component in sectors such as solar energy, electronics, and electric vehicles. Limited supply reinforces the bullish trend: annual silver deficits are estimated at around 120 million ounces due to stagnant mining, sanctions, and other trade restrictions.

These factors have led to a physical ( shortage, not just a “paper” ) one, of actual silver. This, in turn, has triggered a surge in actual supplies on major trading platforms like COMEX, while refining companies have temporarily halted accepting orders amid a wave of margin calls.

“London reserves remain depleted. Warehouse reserves in Shanghai have fallen to their lowest level since 2015. Since early October, 75 million ounces have been withdrawn from COMEX warehouses. Borrowing rates for physical silver remain high. Every major hub signals the same problem: supply is under severe pressure,” wrote journalist and host of The Real Story Michelle Makori.

Industrial demand for silver — primarily from “green” energy, electronics, and electric vehicles — has played a key role in the current price surge. Only the solar industry has tripled its consumption of the precious metal over the past decade. Factors such as export restrictions from China and the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) decision to recognize silver as a critically important mineral have further impacted supply chains.

USGS defines critically important minerals as “raw materials that are of key importance to the U.S. economy or national security; have supply chains vulnerable to disruptions; perform an essential function in manufacturing, the absence of which would have significant consequences for the country’s economy or security.”

In its final update for 2025, besides silver, the Geological Survey added a total of 10 minerals, including copper, metallurgical coal, potash, rhenium, silicon, and uranium.

“Once a mineral receives such status, governments typically begin assessing tariffs, export restrictions, and reserve accumulation strategies. Traders understand this. The very possibility of new U.S. policies already makes some think twice before exporting metal from the country,” added Makori.

Macroeconomic pressures have also played a role: the U.S. budget deficit in 2025 exceeded $1.78 trillion, and the Federal Reserve’s rate cuts have created negative real yields.

“The current rise in silver is the result of a simultaneous collision of monetary changes, industrial demand, and geopolitical restructuring,” explained macro strategist EndGame Macro, describing silver as a bridge between losing trust in fiat systems and new technologies.

Implications for Cryptocurrency Investors

Amid the rise in silver prices, experts draw parallels with the cryptocurrency market. Assets like Bitcoin are currently trading about 30% below their all-time highs, despite record levels in stock markets and other commodity sectors.

“Silver at new all-time highs — above levels of 1980 and 2011 — is a market cry that the old trust-based pricing model is collapsing. Silver serves as a kind of training signal — through which the market will eventually express itself even more clearly in Bitcoin,” believes macro and crypto analyst SightBringer.

He argues that precious metals reflect growing distrust in fiat currencies — a sentiment underlying Bitcoin’s appeal as a digital scarce asset. However, he warns of potential short-term capital flows, where metals could grow at the expense of crypto assets.

Blockchain philosopher Jack Sargeant notes:

“Silver isn’t just growing — it’s being forced to grow. With limited reserves, any new demand from sovereign reserves, any acceleration of inflows into ETFs, or any supply disruptions can very quickly exhaust available supply.”

For those familiar with Bitcoin’s mechanics, this inevitably evokes associations with protocol halvings, where reductions in new supply have historically been powerful catalysts for price increases.

While retail enthusiasm for silver resembles the hype seen during crypto booms, the current rally in the precious metal also underscores the importance of diversification and practical value. Unlike purely speculative cryptocurrencies, silver has stable industrial demand, which can serve as a good benchmark for crypto projects that want to rely not only on market expectations but also on real-world applications.

Overall, the growth of gold and silver in 2025 seems to reflect a more pragmatic approach to asset allocation — emphasizing diversification rather than panic-driven decisions. In this context, allocating capital to gold, silver, and Bitcoin — considering their roles as alternatives to traditional financial systems — can be seen as a conscious strategic choice rather than an impulsive move.

“Silver is experiencing a moment of profound significance, with serious implications for the history of ‘hard money,’ devaluation of fiat currencies, and — most critically — inflation,” commented macro investor Otavio Costa.

He added that breaking previous silver price highs could be a prelude to a “historic movement” in the market.

In the longer term, accumulated momentum could push prices into the four-digit range, according to commodities analyst Tim Hax. He believes it could take 10–15 years, but the first sharp rise — to $100–(— could happen much sooner, possibly within a year or even faster, depending on where systemic tension manifests first.

Text: Andrey Asmakov