What a rising market can imply for Bitcoin

Silver soared to $82.7 per ounce in early trading in Asia, close to recent highs (ATH). The precious metal briefly overtook NVIDIA to become the world’s second-largest asset by market capitalization.

This move attracted considerable attention across financial markets. Analysts have started comparing silver to Bitcoin, with some suggesting that cryptocurrencies could be poised for a similar breakout.

Precious metals rally lifts silver above tech giants

After a slight correction from its previous high, silver extended its gains above $80 an ounce, reaching today’s high of $82.7. The recent rally has pushed silver’s market cap past NVIDIA’s $4.55 trillion.

At the time of writing, the precious metal was trading at $80.8, up nearly 12% since the beginning of the year. These gains have also outpaced gold, which is up about 3.2% through 2026.

“This is probably the best start to a year ever for silver,” economist Peter Schiff wrote.

Silver price performance. Source: TradingView

Silver’s outperformance is not a recent event. In 2025, the metal still outpaced gold’s progress, gaining about 176% for the year compared to gold’s 70.3% gain.

Market observers believe that silver’s strength lies in its dual role. Investors buy it as money or a safe-haven asset, similar to gold.

Silver, on the other hand, plays an important role in industrial applications, particularly in electronics, solar panels, artificial intelligence hardware, and electric vehicles. BeInCrypto recently highlighted that industrial demand accounts for about half of global silver consumption.

“Silver is a very interesting metal these days due to the combination of investors buying silver for financial reasons, as well as industrial demand such as electronics, solar power, AI, and EVs,” Wall Street’s Mab said.

According to analysts, A persistent imbalance between supply and demand is fueling silver’s rally. According to a report from the Silver Association, the global silver market will record an annual deficit for the fifth consecutive year in 2025. Annual demand is about 1.2 billion ounces, but the supply from mining production and recycling is only about 1 billion ounces.

This structural scarcity has helped maintain upward momentum, with many market participants predicting silver prices could reach triple digits in 2026.

“$100 silver is now firmly on the table for January,” said analyst Sunil Reddy.

However, if demand consistently exceeds supply, prices typically rise until consumption begins to decline. This process is known as demand destruction. In the case of silver, rising prices could eventually make certain industrial uses uneconomic.

“So the price of silver needs to rise until demand is destroyed. And no one seems to know what that price is. At $135 silver, we saw estimates that most of the solar industry is losing money making solar panels. Let’s see what happens,” Wall Street’s Mab added.

Bitcoin Analyst See Silver Parallel

Silver’s record rally has prompted many crypto market analysts to examine Bitcoin’s charts. Marlin the Trader observed that silver completed a multi-year cup-and-handle formation before surging.

This post suggests that Bitcoin is currently in a similar stage and is quietly building the same structure on the weekly chart. This means that, like silver, Bitcoin could rise sharply once this pattern completes.

“Bitcoin has been quietly forming a cup and handle week after week. Long base. Gradual accumulation. Maximum boredom. Silver did this for years… then exploded. When this structure resolves… it rarely resolves calmly,” the analyst said.

Analyst Crypto Rover added that gold and silver surged after breaking through their monthly accumulation zones. According to the analyst, Bitcoin has yet to see a similar breakout, but once it does, it could spark a strong catch-up rally.

Market participants are also keeping an eye on potential capital rotation from precious metals to Bitcoin. It remains to be seen when or if such changes will materialize.

The article “Silver Briefly Overtake NVIDIA: What the Rally Could Signal for Bitcoin” originally appeared on BeInCrypto.