Silver Is Soaring, Can Tokenized Silver Amplify Leverage Further?
Silver prices have surged dramatically, breaking historical records by reaching over $117 per ounce and accumulating a 517% increase since 2017—outpacing both Bitcoin and gold. With a market cap of approximately $6.18 trillion, silver is the second most valuable asset globally. This rally has spurred interest in tokenized silver as a way to gain exposure, including through leveraged contracts.
Two major tokenized silver assets stand out:
- **Kinesis Silver (KAG)**, with a market cap of $406 million, is backed by physical silver (1 token = 1 oz), offers global payments and redemption, but carries issuer dependency and regulatory risks.
- **iShares Silver Trust (SLV)**, with a $39.5 million market cap, tracks a traditional ETF managed by BlackRock, provides good liquidity and institutional backing, but does not allow physical redemption and incurs management fees.
Additionally, leveraged trading is available on platforms like Hyperliquid, Binance (offering up to 20x leverage on XAG/USDT), and Bitget, with significant trading volumes.
The surge is driven by factors including Trump’s trade policies, expectations of U.S. interest rate cuts, silver’s new classification as a critical mineral in the U.S., supply constraints, and its role as a hedge amid geopolitical tensions. Analysts suggest the rally may continue due to these structural and macroeconomic tailwinds.
marsbit01/27 08:09