Over the past year, silver has drastically increased by 156 percent. There have been a variety of factors that have led to this. According to Goldsilver, a major reason for this is that “silver has been running a structural deficit for five consecutive years. Industry, investment, and manufacturing demand are exceeding the amount miners can produce. That means existing above-ground stockpiles are being drained to meet demand. And as those reserves shrink, holders of physical silver are demanding higher and higher prices to part with it. Additionally, countries have a high demand for it as the United States officially added silver to its list of critical minerals for the first time, Russia confirmed it’s allocating funds to purchase silver for its reserves, and China tightened export controls on silver.” Quang Le, a 12th-grade student at Corona del Mar High School discussed how, “the market is extremely volatile right now with geopolitical tensions and precious metals are always what people look to invest in during these times.” However, with the rise in silver prices comes caution. JPMorgan has warned that silver may crash to around $50 in 2026, with belief that the reason it rose to over $100 was driven by “meme-style” shifts, and is not a sustained, long-term trend. On the contrary,  Citi’s commodities team has become tactically more bullish, raising its 0–3 month silver price target to $150 per ounce, implying another 30–40% upside from recent levels. Citi’s Maximilian Layton noted that, “we remain tactically bullish and upgrade our 0–3m point price target to $150/oz,” framing silver’s current behaviour as “gold squared” or “gold on steroids” as capital flows chase macro hedges.” While it is uncertain how the silver craze will play out, for students and everyday investors, developing one’s own conviction through lots of research and analysis is essential.