Silver’s Explosive Rally: What Drove the Metal From $29 to $70 and What Happens Next

Silver delivered one of the most explosive commodity performances of the past year, surging 137% from February 2025 to February 2026. The iShares Silver Trust (NYSEARCA:SLV) climbed from $29.46 to $69.72. A sharp 17.5% selloff in January 2026 tested conviction, triggered by Federal Reserve chair speculation that sent the dollar surging.

After the drop, Reddit lit up with loss posts and SLV put option wins. Yet the bigger picture is this: with silver near $70, does the rally have legs or is another correction coming?

Silver’s Price Action: A Year of Extremes

Silver’s 137% gain over the past year dwarfs its 176% five-year return, compressing what typically takes half a decade into twelve months. The metal tested resistance above $71 in early February before pulling back. Late January brought chaos when Trump’s nomination of Kevin Warsh as Fed chair crashed silver 17%, with the metal briefly touching $95 before reversing. Year-to-date, SLV is up 8.2%, masking violent swings underneath.

ETF Flows and Investor Sentiment

The iShares Silver Trust holds $51.5 billion in net assets with a 0.5% expense ratio. Reddit sentiment around SLV swung wildly during the January crash, with r/wallstreetbets posts celebrating SLV put gains alongside stories of devastating losses. One user claimed to have lost two-thirds of their life savings. By mid-February, sentiment recovered to bullish levels (64-68 score range), suggesting retail investors repositioned after the shakeout.

Silver Miners: Leverage to the Metal

Silver mining stocks amplified the metal’s gains:

Miners benefited from both higher silver prices and operational improvements. However, valuations have expanded significantly: First Majestic sits at 164x trailing earnings, while Pan American trades at 33x.

What’s Driving Silver and What’s Next

Industrial demand continues supporting silver’s fundamentals. Solar panel production, AI infrastructure, and electronics manufacturing all require silver, creating structural support beneath investment speculation. This volatility underscores why Goldman Sachs includes precious metals in their AI-resilient basket strategy, as we covered in today’s Daily Profit newsletter. Central bank gold buying indirectly lifts silver through the gold-to-silver ratio. The January volatility exposed silver’s sensitivity to dollar strength and Fed policy expectations.

Watch three things: whether industrial demand holds as global growth questions persist, how miners manage production expansion without flooding supply, and whether retail investors who got burned in January return or stay cautious. Silver’s rally has been extraordinary, but the metal’s history suggests consolidation or another sharp correction before any sustained move higher.