Silver Outperforms Bitcoin Amid Trade Tensions – Fueling Fresh Market Divide

Silver’s rapid rally is drawing renewed attention, fueling polarized views on Wall Street and crypto Twitter over Bitcoin's role as a store of value.

• Silver hit a record high near $94 per ounce as US-EU tariff threats drove investors towards precious metals.
• Gold also climbed near record levels at $4700 per ounce, but Bitcoin stayed put at $91,000.
• The market sentiment remained split, with commentators arguing for and against Bitcoin’s rise in value relative to silver.

Silver’s spot price (XAG) reached a record high of $94 per ounce, sharply outperforming Bitcoin. This has reignited the debate on the direction the asset could take.

Amid economic uncertainty stemming from trade tensions and tariff risks, spot silver climbed to fresh all-time highs on Monday. Market participants have pointed to geopolitical tensions over the US-EU conflict over Greenland and policy uncertainty around US trade measures affecting European and UK supply chains as key drivers of demand for silver. 
Among the voices weighing in was Peter Schiff, a chief economist and longtime Bitcoin critic. He warned that the renewed interest in precious metals could come at crypto’s expense. He also argued that silver’s surge in value could result in “Bitcoin’s catastrophic collapse.”

The Silver-Bitcoin Divergence 

We have seen a stark difference in the performance of silver and Bitcoin. 

Silver saw a 36.55% increase in value over the last month, while Bitcoin (BTC) rose only by 3.28%, according to Trading View. On Stocktwits, BlackRock’s silver ETF, iShares Silver Trust (SLV), remained in ‘bullish’ territory, accompanied by ‘high’ chatter levels over the past day.

Bitcoin’s price was trading at $91,988, down by 0.7% in the past 24 hours. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around Bitcoin dropped from ‘bullish’ to ‘bearish’ territory, as chatter remained at ‘normal’ levels over the past day. 

A crypto commentator, Dario, wrote on X that recent tariff announcements could lead to increased movement of physical metals out of London-based vaults, known as the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA), tightening supply and pushing prices higher. He added that silver could face heightened volatility as a result. 

Silver, Gold Rally Sparks Fresh Debate

The rally in silver has coincided with that of gold, further weighing on Bitcoin’s ‘digital gold’ narrative

Another market commentator said in an X post that gold was rising while Bitcoin was falling, describing the move as a structural shift rather than short-term market sentiment. They argued that capital markets tend to concentrate value during periods of economic stress, benefitting traditional stores of value like gold.

Random systems cluster around an average size, while power-law systems have a few large and many small nodes.
| Source: @UglyOldGoat1/X

Gold was trading at $4700 on Monday. The rise in value in precious metals contrasted with Bitcoin’s recent performance. 

Analyst on precious metals. | Source: @DarioCpx/X

Crypto key opinion leader (KOL) said on X that “if Bitcoin followed silver, BTC [would go] to $400,000 in 2026.” However, an analyst named Wall Street Ma responded to the post, saying that “Bitcoin has nothing to do with silver.”

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