Silver has increased by 150% this year, while Bitcoin has fallen. An antique asset with a 4000-year history has outperformed all other targets in the crypto space.

At the beginning of the year, silver was $30; now it’s $77. BTC was $95k at the start of the year; now it’s below $90k. The total market cap of silver, which was previously less than Bitcoin’s, has become twice as large—$4 trillion. This is the first time since 1980 that gold, silver, and copper have all hit new highs in the same year.

What’s happening?

Let’s look at the demand side. Solar energy consumes 29% of silver supply, up from just 5.6% in 2015. Each photovoltaic panel requires 20 grams of silver paste, which has irreplaceable conductivity. Electric vehicles use 70% more silver per vehicle than fuel-powered cars. AI data centers’ computing power has increased from 0.93GW in 2000 to 50GW in 2025, a 53-fold increase—servers, cooling, circuits—all require silver.

Solar, electric vehicles, and AI are three demands that have only exploded in the past two years.

Now, look at the supply side. Silver has been in continuous deficit for seven years, with a shortfall of 149 million ounces in 2025. The critical issue: 70% of silver is a byproduct of lead-zinc-copper mining and cannot be produced independently. Want to mine more silver? You first need to mine more lead, zinc, and copper, but those mines are not economically feasible for increased production. LME inventories plummeted 75% from their 2019 peak, and large traders have bypassed exchanges to directly sign contracts with miners.

New mines take 7-10 years from exploration to production. Even if silver prices rise to $77, it won’t produce more silver in the short term.

When structural demand increases and supply cannot be quickly expanded, coupled with gold’s consecutive rally, silver naturally has ample room to rise. Currently, the gold-silver ratio has recovered from 90:1 to 60:1. The long-term average of the gold-silver ratio in history is 50-60, so silver has a logical case for a rebound.

The most convenient way to buy silver now is through US stock ETFs, such as SLV and PSLV, which are backed by physical silver bars of corresponding weight, traded like stocks.

More and more US stock assets are going on-chain. Besides ETFs and gold, the significance of silver going on-chain is to connect a traditional market worth $4 trillion to on-chain liquidity. RWA is not just US bonds and US stocks—precious metals are also an important category.