Spot silver hovered near $80 an ounce on Monday, December 29, after hitting fresh all-time highs earlier in the session. That surge has turned silver into one of 2025’s standout assets. It has also sparked a simple question traders love: has silver finally passed Nvidia?
Not quite, at least not on the most followed cross-asset dashboards.
Why silver is ripping in 2025
Silver has two strong tailwinds right now. First, manufacturers keep buying it because the metal plays a key role in modern hardware. Second, investors keep treating it like a hard-asset hedge when policy expectations shift.
Here’s what traders keep pointing to:
- Strong industrial demand tied to solar panels, electrification, and data-center buildouts
- Growing bets on easier U.S. monetary policy ahead
- On-and-off safe-haven demand as geopolitical narratives shift
- Fresh supply anxiety, including talk of new Chinese export restrictions starting January 1
Furthermore, silver’s moves have been large enough to reshape global asset leaderboards, at least in headlines.
The “silver beat Nvidia” debate comes down to a tricky number
Stocks come with a clean market cap. Commodities do not. Analysts estimate a commodity’s “market value” by multiplying the spot price by an assumed amount of above-ground stock. Those stock assumptions vary widely. Therefore, silver’s estimated valuation can swing by hundreds of billions of dollars when price jumps.
That’s why one feed can claim silver is ahead, while another still shows Nvidia comfortably in second.
Nvidia remains the market’s top AI bellwether. Traders have watched extra volatility lately as deal and financing chatter circulates. However, its valuation has stayed near record territory.
Silver can still grab the No. 2 headline more consistently, but it likely needs another sharp leg higher, or a meaningful pullback in mega-cap tech. Until then, intraday swings may flip the story, even when end-of-day rankings keep Nvidia on top.
