Silver Shatters $79/oz Record as Physical Shortage Deepens

Silver last went parabolic during the Hunt brothers’ squeeze in January 1980, when prices spiked to $50/oz before collapsing; then again in April 2011 they kissed $49 amid post-crisis QE. 2025’s breakout differs: demand is now anchored in structural electrification—solar, EVs, 5G—rather than purely speculative leverage, while mine supply is flat and 70% by-product-dependent. Washington’s 2025 designation of silver as a “critical mineral,” coupled with swap spreads signalling vault depletion, suggests the paper-to-physical disconnect that underpinned both earlier bubbles may be nearing a systemic limit. On a 100-year arc, this moment sits at the intersection of two long waves: the retreat from dollar hegemony (accelerating precious-metal stockpiling by investors and some central banks) and the century-long electrification of everything, which embeds silver in real-world infrastructure. Whether the price holds or whiplashes, the episode underscores a shift from episodic speculative squeezes toward a planet-scale tug-of-war between industrial necessity and financialised promises of metal that may not exist.