Recently, there has been an interesting phenomenon—silver is soaring wildly, while BTC is consolidating sideways. What is the real reason behind this?

Ultimately, the relationship between silver and the crypto market is not as close as it might seem. From the data, between 2024 and 2025, the correlation coefficient of daily returns between silver and BTC is only about 0.15. What does this mean? It indicates that they are basically moving independently. In comparison, the correlation between silver and gold is as high as 0.70, making them true "brothers in hardship."

Market analysis shows that this divergence mainly stems from several levels: in the short term, the two markets are competing for capital—who can attract more buying power wins. In the medium term, liquidity and risk appetite become the deciding factors. In the long term, their respective supply and demand fundamentals and market narratives are the true driving forces.

As of the end of December, silver performed particularly well—its annual increase was nearly 140%, while BTC remained relatively calm. This stark contrast precisely illustrates a key point: when market sentiment diverges and capital expectations split, assets that were once correlated will start to decouple. And there's a detail worth noting—during periods of high volatility, this divergence tends to be more pronounced, with silver remaining relatively stable, while BTC experiences larger pullbacks.