Editor’s Note
This article highlights a key distinction between silver and gold: silver is primarily consumed in industrial applications, from electronics to solar panels, making it less available for storage and investment compared to gold.
Most of it gets consumed rather than stored, which makes it fundamentally different from its shinier cousin. While gold mostly sits in vaults and safety deposit boxes, silver goes into solar panels that generate electricity for decades. It becomes part of circuit boards in smartphones and data centers. Medical instruments rely on its antibacterial properties. And once it’s embedded in these products, it’s essentially gone from the market, as it’s too expensive to recover and recycle in most cases.
Before buying in, it’s important to determine whether silver is a good bet for your portfolio, especially at today’s prices.
Silver recently delivered one of the most dramatic rides in precious metals history. At the start of this year, the white metal surged upward at a rapid pace, breaking the $100-per-ounce price barrier for the first time before dipping back down to about $75 per ounce. As of mid-February, the price of silver is now sitting at about $83 per ounce (as of February 12, 2026) — which is down significantly from its peak but still up dramatically compared to a year ago, when it traded in the $30-per-ounce range.
Given the price volatility, many investors are now questioning whether today’s silver market represents a buying opportunity or a warning sign. After all, while gold has been setting records with relative stability, silver has been living up to its reputation as the more temperamental precious metal. And, the precious metal’s wild price swings since the start of the year have clearly highlighted both its potential for explosive gains and its capacity for quick losses.
So, before buying in, it’s important to determine whether silver is a good bet for your portfolio at today’s prices. Below, we’ll detail what you need to know to make that call.
Several factors continue to support the investment case for silver at current levels, despite the recent price volatility. Here’s what to consider when evaluating whether silver makes sense to add to your portfolio in today’s price landscape:
Strip away the January speculation frenzy, and it’s clear that silver’s underlying story has not fundamentally changed. Yes, the parabolic spike to over $110 per ounce was driven partly by speculation that needed to unwind, but the broader trend that took silver from the $30 range one year ago to current levels reflects real shifts in supply and demand that remain despite recent price corrections.
The recent correction has simply brought prices back to levels that actually make sense given the underlying market conditions rather than pure momentum trading. And, buying after the chaos settles often beats chasing parabolic peaks.
Here’s what separates silver from gold. That means every year, industries are drawing down the available silver supply while mining operations struggle to keep up. This isn’t a temporary imbalance that resolves itself quickly, either. It’s a structural shortage that’s been building for years and shows no signs of easing, even as silver prices have surged.
There’s a long-established pattern in precious metals markets:
We saw this play out dramatically over the past year, and history suggests that this relationship can go much further during sustained bull markets.
In past cycles, silver has delivered more dramatic gains relative to gold, sometimes tripling or quadrupling while gold merely doubles. With gold now trading above $5,000 and central banks accumulating it at record levels, silver offers investors a way to participate in the precious metals rally without needing to pay exorbitant amounts. If this bull market has legs, silver’s tendency to overreact on both the upside and downside could work in buyers’ favor.
Not everyone has $5,000 lying around to buy a single ounce of gold, and silver’s current sub-$100 price point makes precious metals investing accessible to a much wider range of people. You can start small with silver, build a position over time and adjust your holdings as prices move without feeling like every decision is make-or-break.
That flexibility matters, especially for investors just getting started with precious metal assets. And despite the lower price, silver still delivers many of the same benefits that draw people to gold in the first place — including protection against inflation, diversification from traditional stocks and bonds and a tangible asset that holds value when paper currencies struggle.