As 2025 winds down, the year has been eventful for both cryptocurrencies and precious metals, with both hitting new highs.

Amid this momentum, both Bitcoin (BTC) and silver have reached new peaks, jostling for the crown of the year. 

Now, data indicates that silver has emerged as one of 2025’s standout performers, decisively outpacing Bitcoin as the year’s volatility reshapes the balance between traditional safe-haven assets and digital markets.

The shift is evident in the Bitcoin-to-silver ratio, which has collapsed to 1,458 ounces of silver per Bitcoin, its lowest level since October 2023. The decline marks a dramatic reversal from the start of the year, when a single Bitcoin could buy roughly 3,500 ounces, according to data shared by the finance commentary platform The Kobeissi Letter in an X post on December 3.

The deterioration in the ratio reflects a sharp divergence in performance, with Bitcoin falling 27% since August, extending a broader downturn that has unsettled the crypto market.

Silver, by contrast, has surged 53% over the same period, buoyed by renewed demand across investment channels and growing interest in precious metals amid rising economic uncertainty.

The platform noted that this downturn in the ratio is one of the steepest on record, plunging 58% year-to-date and more than halving since late summer.

While the current collapse echoes the 2022 bear-market slide, when the ratio fell 69% from 2,250 ounces per Bitcoin to around 700 ounces, the latest shift reflects a different market backdrop. This time, the move is driven not just by crypto weakness but by a broad rally in metals that has placed silver among the strongest commodities of the year.

Silver’s massive 2025 rally

Indeed, this comes as silver trades near fresh record highs around $58 per ounce, capping the metal’s strongest year since 1979.

This rally is no surprise, considering that silver is attracting a surge of investor demand, with physical silver-backed ETFs adding 15.7 million ounces in November and recording inflows in nine of the past 11 months. 

The options market is showing similar enthusiasm, with silver skew jumping to its highest level since March 2022, making bullish bets increasingly costly.

Meanwhile, after reaching a record high above $126,000 in October, Bitcoin has suffered notable volatility, falling below the $100,000 support level and at one point dropping to $80,000.

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