According to the latest report from Vanda Research, retail investors are rapidly sweeping up silver-related assets, making silver trading the most crowded commodity trading at the moment.

What do the data say? In the past 30 days alone, retail investors have poured in $921.8 million to buy silver ETFs (such as the iShares Silver Trust). To illustrate how crazy it is, just look at Wednesday’s trading volume — on that day, retail funds flowing into iShares reached as high as $69.2 million, the largest single-day retail inflow since 2021. So far this year, this ETF has increased by 31.3%, and over the past 12 months, it has more than doubled, with a growth rate of 210.9%. Silver prices have also hit a series of new highs.

It’s not just ETFs that are hot; silver-related stocks are also soaring. The MSCI ACWI Select Silver Miners Investable Index has surged about 225% over the past 12 months, indicating that market optimism for the entire silver supply chain has become quite extraordinary.

Interestingly, this wave of silver enthusiasm, to some extent, mirrors the retail frenzy of 2021. Back then, meme stocks like GameStop and AMC were booming, and silver also became a popular target for retail investors. However, the current silver market, based on data, has already surpassed the heat of that year — retail money continues to flow in steadily, and the level of market participation is so high that even institutions are taking notice.