Silver experienced a dramatic 17% decline in the past 24 hours, completely erasing a recent two-day rebound and struggling to find a floor after last week's historic rout. According to reports from CoinDesk, the metal's renewed drop has extended an unwind that traders attribute to thin liquidity and heavy speculative positioning. The decline has also dragged gold and copper lower, creating a broader precious metals sell-off.
The silver decline is showing up on crypto rails with significant forced liquidations. On Hyperliquid, one of the larger liquidation prints tied to tokenized silver was a forced close of roughly $17.75 million in XYZ:SILVER, with about $16.82 million of that coming from long positions, as reported by market participants. This lopsided unwind fits the pattern of recent trading, where traders have leaned into rebound bets only to get flushed when volatility spikes again. The broader crypto market sentiment has deteriorated alongside precious metals, with retail sentiment dropping into 'extremely bearish' territory on Stocktwits even as message volume remains at 'extremely high' levels.
Bitcoin has fallen nearly 20% this year and is trading 40% below its record high of over $126,000 seen in October, with the cryptocurrency hovering near $70,500. According to 10x Research, the current drawdown is attributed to a broader reassessment of capital deployed earlier in the cycle rather than a collapse in conviction around Bitcoin's long-term role. Veteran trader Peter Brandt described the move as methodical campaign selling marked by steadily lower highs and lower lows, carrying "all the fingerprints of campaign selling, not retail liquidation." The selloff comes after the market anticipated Bitcoin would rise following improved ISM Manufacturing PMI readings that crossed 50, usually a necessary condition for crypto bull runs.
Despite the current bearish sentiment, prominent market experts are suggesting the worst of the crypto winter may be over. Michael Burry shared cryptic "BTC patterns" messages on X, hinting at a comparison between the current slump and the 2022 crypto winter, suggesting the four-year cycle remains intact. Matt Hougan from Bitwise stated that the crypto market entered a "full-blown" winter in January, with "this is peak end-of-winter behavior," while Mike Novogratz from Galaxy Digital indicated during Q4 earnings that Bitcoin's bottom is near. Alternative.me's Fear & Greed Index remains stuck at 'Extreme Fear' with traders rage-tweeting on X and leverage being flushed, all signals that the crypto winter might be ending according to Hougan.
The renewed drop aligns with hedge fund manager Michael Burry's warning of a "collateral death spiral" earlier this week. As reported by CoinDesk, Burry described a dynamic where leverage builds as metals rise, then falling crypto collateral forces traders to sell tokenized metals to meet margin requirements. He specifically singled out bitcoin losses that could force institutions to liquidate profitable metals positions, creating a feedback loop where metals products briefly do more damage than bitcoin itself. The current market conditions show that positioning and forced selling are driving precious metals movements more than clean macro drivers, with markets still digesting policy implications of Kevin Warsh's Fed chair nomination.
Current market conditions show that positioning and forced selling are driving precious metals movements more than clean macro drivers. According to CoinDesk reports, markets are still digesting the policy implications of Kevin Warsh's nomination as Federal Reserve chair, while President Donald Trump has pushed back on the idea that the Fed could turn more hawkish. While rate expectations matter for precious metals, the bigger driver right now is positioning and forced selling rather than the macro bid that powered last month's surge. The withdrawal campaign on major crypto exchanges, including Binance, is adding another layer of pressure by tightening liquidity during volatile periods.