Silver just had a moment. The white metal hit an all-time high of $59.33 per ounce, and ETF money poured in at a pace not seen since July. In four days, silver-backed ETFs recorded their strongest weekly inflows in months. Spot silver jumped 3.9% in a single session to reach that record. ETF demand was the key driver.
Silver hit $59.33 per ounce as ETF inflows surged at the fastest pace in months, driving the record rally.
This wasn't a subtle move. Silver prices roughly doubled year-to-date in 2025, crushing gold's 60% rise. ETF inflows amplified the rally, pushing prices to levels nobody saw coming. Bank of America raised its 12-month target to $65 per ounce, citing strengthening ETF flows and narrowing real yields. The metal traded near $59 later in the week as the money kept flooding in.
The scale of the inflows is striking. Silver ETFs added an estimated 95 million ounces in the first half of 2025 alone, materially drawing down inventories. Major funds like iShares Silver Trust tracked the surge toward $59, with net flows closely mirroring futures prices. Renewed expectations of Federal Reserve rate cuts helped, since silver yields nothing and becomes more attractive when rates fall.
Here's where it gets messy. Rapid ETF inflows can quickly amplify price moves and trigger short squeezes. Strong demand contributed to a historic squeeze in London, where physical metal for delivery grew tight. Liquidity strains hit exchanges like CME, linked to multi-year deficits and intensified investment demand. ETF accumulation accelerated the drawdown of above-ground inventories, making inventory the marginal source of supply. Translation: there's less sitting around. Traders monitoring the bid and ask prices in silver futures faced widening spreads as volatility spiked during the squeeze.
The backdrop matters. The silver market has recorded five consecutive annual supply deficits since 2021, totaling about 820 million ounces. That's equivalent to an entire year of global mine output. Production in 2025 came in around 835 to 844 million ounces, but it couldn't keep pace with rising industrial and investment demand. Persistent deficits shifted the market toward inventory depletion, magnifying the price impact of each new wave of ETF cash. Elevated inflows, combined with leveraged futures positioning, increased volatility and momentum-driven trading. The gap between implied vs realized volatility widened as market expectations struggled to keep pace with actual price swings in the white metal. Silver's rally isn't subtle, and neither is the money chasing it. While professional forex traders earn varying monthly incomes depending on capital and strategy, precious metals traders riding this ETF wave have seen outsized returns compared to currency markets.
