Odaily News Spot gold hit a new record high, breaking above $5,200 per ounce for the first time. It has gained over $880, or more than 20%, in the first month of the new year. (Jin10)

Odaily News On Monday, the price of silver surged strongly, briefly breaking through $117 per ounce during the session to hit a record high, before retreating to around $105 near the close of US stock trading. This rally has officially pushed silver's cumulative gains since the peak of the 2017 crypto cycle to surpass those of Bitcoin.

Data shows that silver was priced around $17 at the end of 2017. Even after the recent pullback, its cumulative gain remains approximately 517%. In comparison, Bitcoin has risen from its late-2017 high of around $20,000 to its current price of approximately $87,700, representing a gain of about 500%. Over the same period, gold's gain has been slightly below 300%.

Alongside the price surge, trading volume for silver-related ETFs has expanded significantly. The iShares Silver Trust (SLV) saw daily trading volume exceed $32 billion, roughly 15 times its average daily level. It even briefly became the single security with the highest trading volume globally, surpassing the S&P 500 ETF and popular US stocks like NVIDIA and Tesla.