2025 has been a smashing year for those that invested in precious metals.  The price of copper is up about 30 percent since the start of the year, and the price of silver has risen 128 percent during that same time period.  I have been saying "we have never seen anything like this before" a lot lately, but this is yet another case where that is entirely true.  Needless to say, what we have been witnessing is not welcome news for those that have been trying to keep silver prices and copper prices suppressed.  In recent weeks, big losses have turned into even bigger losses as things haven't gone their way.  The big financial institutions in the western world that have been attempting to suppress prices are fighting a losing battle, because the "AI revolution" is going to require vast amounts of physical silver and physical copper.  At this stage, it would take a truly apocalyptic event to stop the construction of the thousands of colossal data centers that are currently going up all over the globe.

At the same time, there has been a worldwide explosion in demand for physical silver from individual investors as paper currencies rapidly lose their purchasing power.

This has particularly been true in Asia.

In fact, there was so much demand for physical silver in India a couple of months ago that it actually caused "severe physical shortages"…

The Indian silver market has been gripped by an unprecedented "silver squeeze" in October 2025, sending prices to historic highs and creating severe physical shortages. This crisis, fueled by a unique blend of festive demand, speculative buying, and a constrained global supply, has had immediate and significant implications, not only within India but also across international bullion markets. The traditional festive season of Dhanteras and Diwali has ignited a buying frenzy, pushing domestic silver prices to record levels, with physical market premiums skyrocketing and global ripple effects causing scarcity even in major bullion hubs.

You could argue that what has been going on in India lately is just temporary hysteria.

But what isn't temporary is the steadily increasing industrial demand for physical silver…

High industrial demand for silver, too, has been driving up prices for months, the Silver Institute, an international nonprofit industry group, has observed. A December report from the institute further declared silver the "next generation metal," calling it "an essential component across multiple high-growth sectors as industries race to embrace digital innovation and meet clean energy mandates."