Silver Near $120: How Today's Market Rhymes—But Doesn't Repeat—1980's Hunt Crisis

Silver’s climb toward $120 per ounce in early 2026 is triggering familiar echoes from financial history. The parallel that keeps surfacing? The Hunt brothers’ legendary silver squeeze of 1980—an event that reminds us just how volatile precious metals can become when concentrated power meets market mechanics.

The Hunt Brothers Nearly Cornered the Entire Market

Back in 1980, Nelson Bunker Hunt and William Herbert Hunt weren’t just investing in silver—they were attempting to corner the entire market. The brothers accumulated roughly 100 million ounces of physical silver and dominated silver futures contracts, at one point controlling approximately one-third of the global silver supply. Their strategy was simple but aggressive: buy relentlessly, hoard relentlessly, and ultimately control the price. It worked—spectacularly. Silver exploded from around $2 per ounce to nearly $50 in less than a decade.

But the system had other ideas. When the exchanges and regulators moved to counter the Hunt brothers’ monopolistic grip, the machinery of modern finance proved faster and more decisive than any individual player. COMEX introduced Silver Rule 7, tightened margin requirements, and restricted speculation. Banks began calling in loans. Margin calls cascaded through the market. On March 27, 1980—forever known as “Silver Thursday”—the entire structure collapsed. Silver crashed more than 50% in a single trading day. Fortunes that had seemed unshakeable transformed into devastating losses overnight.

What System Changes Prevent History from Repeating

The Hunt crisis fundamentally reshaped how commodity markets operate. Modern position limits, digital trading transparency, and far stricter regulatory oversight make it nearly impossible for any single entity—no matter how wealthy—to replicate their feat today. The mechanics that nearly broke silver in 1980 have been systematically dismantled and rebuilt with safeguards.

Yet the rhyme between 1980 and now is impossible to ignore. Silver’s fundamental story remains compelling: industrial demand from solar panels, electric vehicles, and advanced electronics continues climbing. Refining capacity and shipping logistics are struggling to keep pace. Supply constraints are real. The market conditions that favor price appreciation exist.

Today’s Silver Rally: Different Dynamics, Same Volatility

What makes 2026’s silver near $120 different is precisely this: no single player can orchestrate a corner. The volatility remains—silver remains among the most turbulent assets in global markets—but the mechanism is fundamentally changed. Price movements today reflect aggregate supply-demand pressures, industrial cycles, and macroeconomic shifts, not one or two billionaires with a master plan.

The cautionary tale of 1980 rhymes with today’s environment without repeating it entirely. History suggests that silver can move with breathtaking speed when conditions align. But modern market architecture ensures that when it moves, no individual can own the outcome the way the Hunt brothers briefly did.