Last updated: December 18, 2025 by Florian Grummes
The year 2025 marked the precious metals’ glorious comeback – spectacular, sustainable and unwavering. As the world reeled from geopolitical uncertainty, record debt, an expanding money supply and the return of inflation, capital worldwide sought refuge in gold, silver and platinum.
The upswing in these three precious metals is more than just a rally – it marks a tectonic shift in the global financial system towards real, tangible and enduring values. At the same time, the dramatic loss of purchasing power of all fiat currencies is becoming visible. As a result, price discovery – and thus power – is shifting further east, as China increasingly controls the flows of gold and silver. In addition, there is India as a historically large consumer, while Russia is also increasingly shifting its trade flows to Asia. This historic divergence from the Anglo-Saxon imperialism of the last 200 years is the birth of a new, multipolar price and currency system with gold at its center.
Gold – Triumph will continue
Following the decisive breakout above the multi-year resistance zone around $2,075, a textbook rally began in the spring of 2024, driving the metal up to $4,380 within 21 months. In the process, the gold price finally took off in 2025, rising by around $1,705 or 65% year-on-year from $2,620 to its current level of $4,325. On a euro basis, the price per fine ounce rose by 46.7%. Gold remains confidently and safely in a long-term upward trend.
Despite the sharp rise in prices, the grand finale of the secular bull market that has been ongoing since 2001 is far from in sight – instead, the monetary policy framework clearly points to a continuing and accelerating devaluation of fiat money. In view of the incredible money confetti party of recent decades, it will probably take years before gold, thanks to its then sharply increased prices, covers a significant part of the international financial system again.
Gold in US dollars, daily chart from December 18, 2025. ©GOLD.DE
Technically, the gold price has been in a healthy consolidation since the end of October below its new all-time high of $4,380. The sharp pullback of almost $500 to $3,886 has been almost completely recovered in the last seven weeks
The all-time high is currently still around $55 or less than 1.3% away. As soon as the foreseeable breakout to the upside succeeds, the new rally should take the gold price to the next target zone in the range of around $5,000 to $5,200 by spring or early summer 2026.
However, it is not only the price that is decisive, but also the market structure, as more and more capital is withdrawing from overvalued technology stocks, speculative crypto tokens and low-real-value bonds and flowing – regardless of short-term price fluctuations – into physical assets.
The People’s Republic of China plays a key role in this. With discreet but massive purchases via the central bank, state funds and private channels, Beijing is continuously expanding its gold reserves. According to estimates, they could have long exceeded 5,000 tons. China is thus underpinning its strategic intention to strengthen the yuan in the long term by linking it to precious metals. The growing influence of the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) on price formation confirms this tectonic shift.
Silver – Like in a frenzy
Silver in US dollars, daily chart from December 18, 2025. ©GOLD.DE
While the gold price as the leader laid the foundation, the silver price delivered the most spectacular performance with a year-on-year increase of +128%. On a euro basis, prices rose by 99.6%. In particular, the breakout above the 45-year resistance mark of 50 US dollars was achieved this year. Since then, the silver price has known no bounds and prices have shot up to a peak of 66.89 US dollars.
Although the initial situation appears strongly overbought, the steep rise in prices is not primarily the result of excessive speculation, but above all of physical scarcity. For example, the inventories on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) and the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE) collapsed by almost 50% in the last two months.
At the same time, the freely available inventories of the LBMA in London fell to a multi-year low. This physical scarcity exposes the discrepancy between the paper and real markets, as the global derivatives markets trade many times the actual amount of silver available every day. In London, up to 700 million ounces of “synthetic” silver are said to be traded – without any real coverage. This imbalance is now reaching its structural limits and could trigger a “short squeeze” of historic proportions in 2026.
In the short term, our price target is in the range of 70 to 72.50 US dollars. However, a breakthrough above this zone would also be quite possible in the course of the coming year, given the initial situation and market dynamics. In the medium term, we expect prices above 100 US dollars. In the long term, we believe silver prices between 250 and 500 US dollars are possible.
Platinum – Historic opportunity for the secret star
While the highly volatile gold and silver prices were the center of attention, platinum quietly developed into the secret star of the year. With a price increase of 112% in US dollars and 87.5% on a euro basis, platinum has woken up from its long slumber. Since the breakout above the 19-year downward trend, platinum prices have risen sharply since the beginning of May. The all-time high ($2,302) is currently still around $350 or 18.35% away.
Platinum in US dollars, daily chart from December 18, 2025. ©GOLD.DE
Despite the price explosion, platinum continues to trade at a historic discount to gold. Although platinum is around 30 times rarer on earth, it currently costs not even half as much as gold. To be precise, one ounce of gold currently buys around 2.3 ounces of platinum. This means that the heavily undervalued platinum still offers a unique investment opportunity.
The special feature: Platinum is in the third year of a structural deficit. Since 2023, 2.5 million ounces more have been consumed worldwide than produced. Inventories only cover around four months of demand, while leasing rates in London have exploded to over 25%. At the same time, only three countries produce 92% of global supply, led by South Africa, whose platinum production has fallen to a 25-year low.
Even more explosive: The EU surprisingly withdrew the ban on combustion engines for 2035. This means that demand for platinum catalysts in the automotive sector will remain strong for at least another decade. China – again as a strategic factor – is accumulating massively, with estimates of four million ounces, around 80% of global inventories.Platinum is likely to rise spectacularly in the coming years and at least catch up with the gold price.
Conclusion: Between scarcity and crisis of confidence in 2026
Several trends are emerging for the coming year:
- physical availability remains scarce, especially for silver and platinum
- central banks are continuing their dedollarization and buying more gold
- doubts about Western financial architectures are growing – a development that will drive investors even more into “hard” assets.
Precious metals remain the ultimate winners in a world characterized by debt, geopolitical uncertainty and digital pseudo-liquidity.
Under these circumstances, a further price increase is very likely. Gold could rise to around US$5,200 in the next two to six months, silver to at least US$72 and platinum to over US$2,500. In addition, the mining stocks should also continue their fireworks display.
In addition to precious metals, other raw materials such as copper and oil are also likely to increasingly come into focus and boom in the course of the emerging commodity super cycle.
A golden Christmas feeling
In this pre-Christmas season, the shine of precious metals reminds us of something fundamental: stability, trust and value. In an age of money supply expansion, digital abundance and artificial intelligence, gold, silver and platinum act as timeless anchors.
2025 was just the beginning – 2026 could be the year in which precious metals finally regain their place at the center of the global financial system.
