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silver The psychological barrier of $100 an ounce was breached on Friday, driven by solar panel demand and historic supply tightness, while Bitcoin (Cryptocurrency: BTC) has fallen 30% from a peak of $126,000 to $89,000.
Silver closed at $48.68 per ounce on October 31, 2025. By Friday afternoon, it had topped $100 — a 104% surge in three months.
Total above-ground silver supply is estimated to be approximately 56 billion ounces, including bars, coins, jewelry, and industrial products.
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Based on October prices, the total market value of silver is approximately US$2.73 trillion.
At today’s price of $99, that valuation has surged to about $5.56 trillion, an increase of $2.83 trillion in three months.
That’s 1.5 times the total Bitcoin market cap of $1.84 trillion over the 90-day increase in silver value.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin has fallen from over $126,000 in October to around $89,000 today.
The cryptocurrency’s market capitalization fell from over $2.4 trillion to $1.84 trillion, wiping out more than $600 billion in market value.
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Silver’s rally is driven by a conflict between industrial demand and tight supply.
According to the Silver Institute’s 2025 World Silver Survey, solar panels now account for 29% of industrial silver demand, up from just 11% in 2014.
Each solar panel requires 15-25 grams of silver, and global solar power generation is expected to reach 665 GW in 2026.
In addition, electric cars use 25-50 grams of silver, while conventional cars use 15-28 grams of silver.
This need is not going away, it is accelerating as the green energy transition moves from future trends to current realities.
The supply side is getting tighter. The Silver Association reports that 2024 is the fourth consecutive year of supply shortages:
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Mine production: 819.7 million ounces
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Total demand: 1.16 billion ounces
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Industrial demand: 680.5 million ounces (all-time high)
The deficit is structural. More than 70% of silver is a by-product of mining lead, zinc and copper, which means production cannot simply increase when prices soar.
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Research by Ghent University and Engie Laborelec predicts that global silver demand may reach 48,000-52,000 tons per year by 2030, while supply is only 34,000 tons.
By the end of the century, the solar industry alone may consume 29-41% of projected global supply.
Silver is approaching the psychological $100 an ounce mark. The question is no longer whether it can break through, but whether $100 will become the new floor rather than the ceiling.
The basics are still intact. The supply deficit shows no sign of abating, industrial demand is accelerating and geopolitical tensions continue to drive safe-haven flows into real assets.
Silver has officially shed its reputation as a “boring” precious metal.
For traders, the lesson is clear: sometimes the most disruptive technologies are the ones we’ve been mining for 5,000 years.
Image: Shutterstock
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This article, “How Silver Cracked $100 and Exceeded Bitcoin’s Entire Market Cap in 3 Months,” originally appeared on Benzinga.com
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