Silver is crashing. After an unprecedented 140 percent rally in 2025 and a peak of $120 per ounce on 28 January 2026, the metal lost 30 percent in a single day. That is one of the steepest single-day drops of recent years. Current price sits around $72.13 per ounce - roughly 40 percent below the peak.

Why is this happening? Not one reason but a synergy of three. First - collapsing demand on the back of high prices. Silver is used in electronics, mobile phones, solar panels, the automotive industry - and every one of those sectors started looking for alternatives or trimming usage once the price crossed $100. That is the textbook economic response: high prices kill demand.

Second - silver has no strategic anchor the way gold does. Central banks buy gold as a reserve asset; they do not buy silver. When gold rallies, the price is propped up by institutional buyers. Silver depends on private investors and industrial demand - and that makes it far more sensitive to economic swings.

Third - forecasts from the big banks are bearish. UBS and HSBC argue the current price is "fundamentally overvalued" and that the gold-to-silver ratio is set to widen - meaning silver could keep falling even if gold rises. For small investors across the Balkans who have been buying silver coins over the past few months (treating silver as the "cheaper entry" into precious metals), the message is blunt: if you bought above $90, you are in for more than a year of waiting just to break even. Discipline or a quick exit - that is the choice.