One veteran investor claims that silver has been quite popular in 2025 and that a “mania phase” is imminent.
The S&P 500 SPX is demonstrating that it is still breaking records with a few days of trading remaining in the year, which could provide some motivation for 2026.
However, another asset class is competing to overtake it. As 2025 draws to a close, all eyes are on silver, and the precious metals industry as a whole appears to be on an unstoppable run at the moment. Also on the rise are industrial metals.
A UBS strategist warned clients this week that gains were “unhinged” due to the surge in silver and other precious and industrial metals, which have increased by about 40% this month on a continuous futures contract (SI00) basis.
Peter Krauth, author of “The Great Silver Bull,” our call of the day, explains why he is sticking to his long-held $300-an-ounce prediction and claims that silver’s so-called “mania phase” is not far off.
In a recent interview with Ben Mumme, the founder and host of the Living Your Greatness Podcast, Krauth, who has edited the investment newsletter Silver Stock Investor and has 20 years of experience in resource markets, made the remarks.
He has made a number of accurate forecasts. For example, in 2023, when silver was hovering around $22, Krauth issued a warning at the Metals Investor Forum about a shortage of supplies and rising demand.
Silver’s rise this year—futures are up 154%—has been fueled by the fundamentals of a structural deficit, Krauth told Mumme. He claimed that after three years of continuously monitoring that macro aspect, he began looking into why prices were stagnating in 2024.
He noted that silver inventories at major exchanges in London, New York, Shanghai, and China have been declining between early 2021 and around 2024. According to him, there was no pressure on miners to bring more to the market in such locations, where buyers could purchase it and receive delivery from lengthy futures contracts at maturity.
At the time, he projected that it would take 12 to 18 months to deplete those supplies of deliverable silver. “I think that’s what the market came to terms with starting about a year ago and then especially in the early part of this year,” Krauth said.
According to the veteran, the gold/silver ratio is important for pricing and ought to begin declining. An investor can determine how many ounces of silver are required to purchase one ounce of gold by dividing the price of gold by the price of silver. He anticipated that the ratio, which is currently at 68 after peaking at 104 in April, would fall to 15.
Using a gold aim of $4,500 an ounce, which is about where it is at the moment, and a gold/silver ratio of 15, he has also forecast a “mania phase for silver” that will push it to $300 an ounce.
In contrast to others, Krauth believes it will take a “few more years” to reach $300, but he guarantees that the gold/silver ratio will decline during the “mania” era.
Investors may not fully comprehend the supply/demand imbalance, according to Krauth, even if strong industrial appetite, a supply deficit—particularly for silver—a weaker currency, worries about large government deficits, inflation, and geopolitical issues have caused a fever for those assets.
“If you add up the deficits of the last five years, including this year, we’re at about 800 million ounces, that’s almost a full year’s mine supply,” he stated. Additionally, Krauth anticipates historical price highs within the next five years, as projected by the international industrial group The Silver Institute.
According to Krauth, producers of solar panels utilize a lot of silver, and even more is used by more advanced and effective methods. In addition, he stated that the demand for silver investment through themed exchange-traded funds is currently approaching 200 million ounces this year, as opposed to the initial forecast of 70 million ounces, which was made by The Silver Institute.
According to him, the price of $50 per ounce, which silver reached in October, will serve as the precious metal’s floor. “I do feel that $800 – $1,000 an ounce [predictions for silver] get pretty crazy,” although he maintains that “nothing’s impossible.”
“Silver is simply doing very well. Everything is in place to assist the market. That does not preclude it from being correct. I wouldn’t be surprised by that either, at least not in the short run. However, everything is in place to sustain this for a considerable amount of time,” he stated.
The marketplaces
While further records are expected to be broken in the precious metals sector, led by silver (SI00) and gold (GC00), as well as palladium (PA00) and platinum (PL00), the Dow industrials DJIA and S&P 500 SPX are remaining stable at highs.
