Precious metals are on a strong bull run as of December 2025. Gold is trading around $4,340–$4,350 per ounce, very close to its all-time high of approximately $4,379–$4,530 set earlier in 2025 primarily in October.
It has surged over 60% year-to-date, driven by geopolitical tensions, central bank buying, and expectations of further Fed rate cuts.
Silver has smashed through to new all-time highs, recently hitting $66–$67 per ounce with peaks around $67.45–$67.65 in mid-December. It’s more than doubled from the start of the year ~$30/oz, fueled by massive industrial demand in solar, EVs, AI/data centers alongside supply deficits and safe-haven flows.
Platinum has reached levels around $1,970–$2,000 per ounce, marking its highest since 2008—a 14–17 year high. Supply constraints from South Africa and recovering industrial/automotive demand have propelled gains of over 100% YTD.
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This synchronized rally reflects broader themes: escalating geopolitical risks, a weaker US dollar, persistent inflation concerns, strong central bank and ETF inflows, and structural industrial shortages especially for silver and platinum.
Precious metals are acting as key safe-haven and diversification assets amid global uncertainty. The momentum remains bullish into year-end, though volatility is high.
Silver’s industrial demand has been the primary driver behind its explosive price rally in 2025, accounting for roughly 59-65% of total global silver consumption record ~680-700 million ounces in recent years.
Unlike gold, which is mostly monetary/jewelry-driven, silver’s superior electrical and thermal conductivity makes it irreplaceable in many high-growth technologies, leading to persistent structural deficits.
The largest and fastest-growing segment, consuming ~200-230+ million ounces annually 15-20%+ of total demand. Silver paste is essential for conductive layers in solar cells.
Global renewable energy push like the massive installations in China, policy support like US Inflation Reduction Act has driven record highs, with advanced technologies sometimes requiring even more silver despite thrifting efforts.
EVs use 2-3x more silver than traditional vehicles around 25-50 grams per vehicle for wiring, batteries, sensors, inverters, and charging infrastructure. Demand projected at ~90 million ounces in 2025, growing at ~3-4% CAGR through 2030 as EV adoption accelerates globally.
Broad category including semiconductors, printed circuit boards, connectors, switches, and consumer devices like phones, tablets, wearables. Silver’s unmatched conductivity is critical here, with demand boosted by 5G networks, flexible electronics, and general digitalization. This sector has seen ~50% growth since 2016.
AI, Data Centers, and Power Infrastructure
Surging electricity needs from AI computing and cloud services require high-performance electronics and grid upgrades, heavily reliant on silver for efficient power transmission and components.
Other Notable Uses Brazing Alloys and Soldering — For strong joints in HVAC, aerospace, plumbing, and manufacturing. Industrial offtake hit records in 2024 (680.5 Moz) and is expected to remain near peak levels in 2025 (677-700 Moz), even with some thrifting in solar.
Combined with constrained mine supply mostly byproduct of base metals and multi-year deficits around 100-150+ Moz annually, this has fueled silver’s doubling+ in price this year. Demand is relatively price-inelastic—industries can’t easily substitute silver without performance loss—supporting sustained bullish momentum amid green tech and tech booms.
While precious metals have surged on classic safe-haven drivers; geopolitical risks, central bank buying, inflation hedges, industrial demand for silver/platinum, and a weaker dollar, crypto has largely diverged and underperformed in the second half of 2025.
Bitcoin and broader crypto have increasingly behaved like risk-on assets correlated with tech stocks and equities, rather than pure safe-havens like gold. During periods of market stress or uncertainty in late 2025, flows rotated into traditional hard assets while crypto faced sell-offs or stagnation.
Precious metals benefited from defensive buying amid escalating global tensions, supply constraints, and monetary easing expectations. Crypto suffered from profit-taking after early-year gains, regulatory delays, liquidity resets, and competition from yield-bearing alternatives.
Some analysts note occasional spillovers like crypto sell-offs indirectly supporting metals rallies via capital rotation, but overall, the two markets have decoupled—gold/silver leading as “flight-to-safety” plays, while crypto lags.