Benzinga and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue on some items through the links below.
Silver crossed the psychological $100 per ounce Friday, driven by solar panel demand and a historic supply squeeze, while Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) has crashed 30% from its $126,000 peak to $89,000.
Silver closed October 31, 2025 at $48.68 per ounce. By Friday afternoon, it had crossed $100—a 104% surge in three months.
The total above-ground silver supply is estimated at approximately 56 billion ounces, including bullion, coins, jewelry, and industrial products.
Don’t Miss:
At October’s price, silver’s total market value stood at roughly $2.73 trillion.
At today’s $99 price, that valuation has exploded to approximately $5.56 trillion—an increase of $2.83 trillion in three months.
That’s 1.5 times Bitcoin’s entire $1.84 trillion market cap added to silver’s value in 90 days.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin tumbled from above $126,000 in October to roughly $89,000 today.
The cryptocurrency’s market cap fell from over $2.4 trillion to $1.84 trillion, shedding more than $600 billion in value.
Trending: Sam Altman Says AI Will Transform the Economy — This Platform Lets Investors Back Private Tech Early
The silver rally is driven by an industrial necessity colliding with a supply crunch.
Solar panels now account for 29% of industrial silver demand, up from just 11% in 2014, according to the Silver Institute’s World Silver Survey 2025.
Each solar panel requires 15-25 grams of silver, and global solar capacity is forecast to hit 665 gigawatts in 2026.
Moreover, electric vehicles use 25-50 grams of silver versus 15-28 grams in conventional cars.
That demand isn’t going away—it’s accelerating as the green energy transition shifts from future trend to current reality.
The supply side is even tighter. The Silver Institute reports 2024 marked the fourth consecutive year of supply deficits:
-
Mine production: 819.7 million ounces
-
Total demand: 1.16 billion ounces
-
Industrial demand: 680.5 million ounces (record high)
The deficit is structural. Over 70% of silver is produced as a byproduct of mining lead, zinc, and copper—meaning production can’t simply ramp up when prices spike.
See Also: Designed for investors with strong market convictions, REX Shares builds ETFs for income, leverage, and tactical positioning — explore the lineup.
Research from Ghent University and Engie Laborelec projects that by 2030, global silver demand could hit 48,000-52,000 metric tons annually while supply reaches only 34,000 metric tons.
The solar industry alone could consume 29-41% of projected global supply by decade’s end.
Silver is approaching the psychological $100-per-ounce threshold. The question is no longer whether it can break through—but whether $100 becomes a new floor rather than a ceiling.
The fundamental case remains intact. Supply deficits show no signs of abating, industrial demand is accelerating, and geopolitical tensions continue driving safe-haven flows into physical assets.
Silver has officially shed its reputation as the “boring” precious metal.
For traders, the lesson is clear: sometimes the most disruptive technology is the one we’ve been mining for 5,000 years.
Image: Shutterstock
Read Next: This investment firm leverages expert insights and a $1.85 billion track record to help accredited investors capitalize on 2026 multifamily market trends—read the full forecast now.
Building a resilient portfolio means thinking beyond a single asset or market trend. Economic cycles shift, sectors rise and fall, and no one investment performs well in every environment. That’s why many investors look to diversify with platforms that provide access to real estate, fixed-income opportunities, professional financial guidance, precious metals, and even self-directed retirement accounts. By spreading exposure across multiple asset classes, it becomes easier to manage risk, capture steady returns, and create long-term wealth that isn’t tied to the fortunes of just one company or industry.
Fundrise has over a decade of experience managing billions in private markets for hundreds of thousands of clients. Their venture capital offering lets individual investors gain exposure to private technology companies with low minimums, diversified holdings, and a long-term focus on growth before public markets. For investors looking to expand beyond stocks and bonds, Fundrise provides a simple way to diversify into private tech ventures starting with just $10.
Rad AI’s award-winning artificial intelligence technology helps transform data chaos into actionable insights, enabling the creation of high-performing content with measurable ROI. Their Regulation A+ offering allows investors to participate at $0.85 per share with a minimum investment of $1,000, providing an opportunity to diversify portfolios into early-stage AI innovation. For investors seeking exposure to the rapidly growing AI and tech sector, Rad AI offers a chance to get in on the ground floor of a data-driven growth story.
Backed by Jeff Bezos, Arrived Homes makes real estate investing accessible with a low barrier to entry. Investors can buy fractional shares of single-family rentals and vacation homes starting with as little as $100. This allows everyday investors to diversify into real estate, collect rental income, and build long-term wealth without needing to manage properties directly.
Lightstone DIRECT gives accredited investors direct access to institutional-grade real estate, going beyond typical crowdfunding platforms. By cutting out middlemen, it aligns investor and manager interests while providing exposure to a $12B+ portfolio spanning multifamily, industrial, hospitality, retail, office, and life science properties. This approach allows investors to diversify their portfolios across multiple property types and markets, gaining professional-grade real estate exposure without the fees or misalignment common on other platforms.
Domain Money helps professionals and households earning $100,000+ take control of their finances with personalized, CFP professional-led guidance. By offering tailored financial planning, Domain empowers users to make smarter, more confident decisions across investments, retirement, taxes, and overall wealth strategy.
Masterworks enables investors to diversify into blue-chip art, an alternative asset class with historically low correlation to stocks and bonds. Through fractional ownership of museum-quality works by artists like Banksy, Basquiat, and Picasso, investors gain access without the high costs or complexities of owning art outright. With hundreds of offerings and strong historical exits on select works, Masterworks adds a scarce, globally traded asset to portfolios seeking long-term diversification.
BAM Capital offers accredited investors a way to diversify beyond public markets through institutional-grade multifamily real estate. With over $1.85 billion in completed transactions and guidance from Senior Economic Advisor Tony Landa, the firm targets income and long-term growth as supply tightens and renter demand remains strong—especially in Midwest markets. Its income-focused and growth-oriented funds provide exposure to real assets designed to be less tied to stock market volatility.
As digital assets become a larger part of diversified portfolios, traders increasingly look for platforms that offer transparency, efficiency, and control. Kraken Pro is an advanced trading interface from Kraken, one of the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchanges, designed for users who want more sophisticated tools without added complexity. With low, volume-based fees, a streamlined interface for managing spot, margin, and futures trading, and a strong focus on security and regulatory compliance, Kraken Pro provides a way to gain diversified crypto exposure through a clear, professional-grade trading experience.
REX Shares designs specialized ETFs for investors who want more precision than traditional broad-market funds can offer. Its lineup spans options-based income strategies, leveraged and inverse exposures, spot-linked crypto ETFs, and thematic funds tied to structural trends. By targeting specific income objectives, volatility profiles, or market themes, these ETFs can be used alongside core holdings to introduce differentiated return drivers and reduce reliance on a single market outcome, while maintaining the liquidity and transparency of the ETF structure.
This article How Silver Cracked $100 And Added More Than Bitcoin’s Entire Market Cap In 3 Months originally appeared on Benzinga.com
© 2026 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
