Silver is trading near $88.03 after staging a modest rebound from a violent sell-off that wiped out more than 20% of its value over the past week, during which the silver price crashed to $72 at the height of the liquidation. Despite the bounce, the metal remains deeply below its recent highs and nearly 29% under its all-time high of $121.08, set on Jan. 29, highlighting the scale of the recent volatility shock.
The sharp decline has not materially altered longer-term institutional views, with both banks and model-based forecasts continuing to outline aggressive upside scenarios, albeit alongside elevated downside risk.
Dip buyers emerge after historic liquidation
Precious metals rebounded after last week’s forced liquidation, as investors selectively stepped back into positions following one of the most abrupt drawdowns in decades. Gold rose more than 2% to around $4,906 per ounce, while silver climbed intraday before settling near current levels.
Market participants noted that corrections of this magnitude often reflect positioning resets rather than a breakdown in structural demand. With leverage reduced and speculative excess flushed from the system, short-term price action has begun to stabilize, though volatility remains elevated.
Policy uncertainty triggers margin-driven selling
The sell-off was sparked after President Donald Trump nominated Kevin Warsh as the next Federal Reserve chair, reigniting uncertainty around future monetary policy. Gold recorded its largest single-day decline in over 40 years, while silver followed with an outsized drop as investors reassessed leverage-heavy positions.
Forced selling amplified the move. Margin calls spread rapidly across futures markets, prompting CME Group to raise margin requirements on gold and silver contracts. The reduction in available leverage intensified liquidation, particularly in Asian markets where speculative activity had been elevated during the rally.
Structural concerns resurface as demand holds firm
Silver’s collapse revived long-standing concerns around market structure and concentration risk, especially after recording its largest intraday plunge since 1980. Past enforcement actions against major banks for spoofing activity returned to focus, though no evidence has linked the recent move to misconduct.
At the same time, demand from large buyers remained active. Reports indicated that China purchased billions of dollars’ worth of gold and silver during the dip, reinforcing the view that sovereign and central bank accumulation continues despite extreme short-term volatility. These flows suggest that recent price action has not undermined silver’s role as a strategic asset in a fragmented global environment.
CoinCodex model outlines volatile recovery scenarios
CoinCodex’s silver price prediction outlines a step-like advance marked by sharp rallies and subsequent corrections rather than a smooth upward trend. In the near term, the model shows silver recovering from current levels near $88 and moving back toward the $115–$120 zone by April, bringing price close to its recent all-time high.
Following that move, the forecast points to another acceleration into mid-2026. A more aggressive rally forms around July, where silver briefly spikes toward the $180–$190 range before undergoing another sharp pullback. After this reset, the model projects a renewed exponential advance into late 2026 and early 2027, with prices climbing toward roughly $270–$280 at the peak of the next expansion phase.
Across the projection, each surge is followed by a corrective phase that clears momentum before the next leg higher begins. The structure suggests that sustained upside, if it materializes, is likely to come through repeated volatility cycles rather than a linear climb, with sharp drawdowns remaining an integral part of the broader upward trajectory.
Banks maintain aggressive long-term targets
Major financial institutions have largely maintained bullish long-term views despite the recent crash. The Bank of America price target continues to frame silver potentially topping between $135 and $309, positioning the metal as a leveraged beneficiary of precious metals demand amid rising geopolitical risk and currency uncertainty.
While these targets reflect multi-year scenarios rather than near-term expectations, they highlight the gap between current price levels and institutional views of fair value under supportive macro conditions.
Silver’s sharp sell-off has reset momentum and exposed the risks tied to leverage and concentrated positioning. Near-term price action remains fragile, and further volatility cannot be ruled out.
At the same time, institutional targets and model-based forecasts continue to frame the recent collapse as a correction within a broader structural trend. Whether the current rebound marks stabilization or merely a pause before renewed turbulence, silver remains firmly back in focus for global markets.
