Silver isn’t just rallying it’s becoming the preferred precious metal trade for retail traders, and now it’s showing up in ETF volume data.
Gold might be the “safe” trade, but silver is the WSB trade.
Silver is the most trending ticker on WallStreetBets
Per SwaggyStocks, iShares Silver Trust $SLV ( ▼ 2.56% ) has been the top trending ticker on r/WallStreetBets across the last 12 hours, 1 day, and 1 week.
Mentions over the past week are roughly 3x higher than SPDR Gold Shares $GLD ( ▼ 0.25% ) , which is wild considering gold is supposed to be the default macro hedge.
Why retail prefers silver over gold
Both metals have been catching bids in basically every environment lately.
Risk-on? up.
Risk-off? up.
But silver wins the attention war because it has the one thing retail always wants: volatility.
It moves harder, faster, and it’s been printing relentless upside. Prices are nearly triple over the last year, and that’s the kind of chart WSB can’t ignore.
SLV volume is the real signal
This isn’t just hype or mentions.
SLV’s average turnover over the last five trading sessions hit $9.6B, which is 61% higher than GLD.
That’s the cleanest proof that silver isn’t just popular, it’s being traded aggressively.
Bottom line
Retail is treating silver like “gold with leverage.” Add in thin London inventories and China export restrictions starting January 1, and you get the perfect mix of momentum + scarcity + retail obsession.
That’s why SLV is booming.