Silver has burst into 2026 as the defining story of the commodities market. In January, silver (SIH26) powered into triple‑digit territory, touching $121, more than tripling in value over the past year and turning a once sleepy hedge into one of the most aggressive risk expressions on traders' screens. Even after sliding back to about $79 per ounce as of Jan. 30, it still sits more than 7% higher year-to-date and roughly 120% above its level a year ago.
This kind of vertical move, with wide intraday swings and elevated volatility, has pulled in speculators, macro hedgers, and momentum funds, all crowding into a market that suddenly feels too small for the money chasing it. The result is a sharp divide between those waiting for a collapse back toward $50 and a vocal bullish camp that sees this as the early phase of a structural repricing.
In that bullish camp sits an analyst who argues that $150 per ounce is not a distant dream but rather a near-term destination, hinting that the new floor for silver may already have shifted into the mid-$60-to-$70 range. If silver has already tripled and still trades like a live wire, could $150 really be around the corner? And what does that mean for anyone on either side of this trade? Let's find out.
Citi’s Bold Case For $150 Silver
Citi’s call for $150 silver rests on the idea that this market has shifted from a simple precious‑metal trade into a high‑octane expression of global liquidity, currency worries, and physical tightness.
In its latest note, the bank’s commodities team argues that the recent spike toward $120 is not an endpoint but the beginning of a new pricing regime, with triple‑digit quotes needed just to pry metal loose from strong hands and rebalance the market. Chinese buying features prominently in that thesis, with persistent premiums in Shanghai and heavy demand suggesting that traditional supply channels are struggling to keep up, even after a historic rally.
That bold stance finds an echo in a recent 2026 outlook from prominent market strategist Jim Wyckoff, who sketches a path for silver to reach $150 as soon as the next leg higher, and where the new floor for the metal sits in a $65-to-$70 band rather than the sub‑$20 levels of just a few years ago. Wyckoff also points out that four‑digit gold (GCH26) and triple‑digit silver are now part of serious macro scenarios rather than fringe fantasies, reinforcing Citi’s view that this is a regime defined by structural deficits, elevated macro risk, and a crowd of traders treating silver as leveraged gold.
Macro Shocks Testing Silver’s New Reality
Triple-digit silver is teaching a hard lesson about what it means to trade a macro barometer rather than a sleepy metal. In late January, futures on the March COMEX contract collapsed more than 30% in a single session, dragging prices to a three-week low after President Donald Trump named Kevin Warsh as his choice for Fed chair, and the U.S. Dollar Index (DXH26) jumped roughly 0.8%.
That announcement yanked focus back to interest rate expectations, triggering a wave of long liquidation across gold and silver even though both had just printed fresh records, with nearby silver touching a new all-time high around $120 per ounce only a day earlier.
Zoom out, and those shocks sit inside a much bigger story, a parabolic climb that has taken silver from below $20 in 2023 to more than $95 on nearby futures in January 2026, nearly double its 1980 peak and closing in on the psychologically charged $100 line. Analysts tracking the move describe silver as a high-beta expression of themes like negative real yields, concerns over fiat credibility, and repeated supply deficits, with The Silver Institute flagging a fifth straight year in which demand has outstripped mine output and scrap flows.
Beyond the macro drama, structural demand is quietly tightening the screw on supply. Silver's role in artificial intelligence (AI) data centers, electric vehicles, and solar panels has created a persistent industrial pull that weather-related shortfalls or seasonal squeezes cannot match.
Conclusion
In the end, the $150 call on silver looks less like a moonshot and more like a challenge to see whether this new regime can survive sharp macro shocks. If safe-haven demand, strong Asian buying, and tight supply keep colliding with only occasional dollar strength, prices likely lean higher rather than snapping back to old ranges. The most probable path is a wide three-digit range, with silver spending time consolidating at elevated levels before either overshooting toward 150 or settling into a higher, sturdier floor.
On the date of publication, Ebube Jones did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.
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