While the cryptocurrency sector has witnessed a historic rally in 2025, thanks to U.S. President Donald Trump’s pro-crypto administration, precious metals like Gold and Silver are still holding the throne of the biggest asset of the world.
As 2026 starts, investors are closely monitoring two different kinds of assets. Ethereum (ETH), the native token of Ethereum blockchain technology, and silver, which is a physical commodity with a deep connection in both monetary history. The rapidly growing price of Silver in 2026 is a clear sign of its domination on commodity world.
At the time of writing, Ethereum is trading at around $2,750 per ETH in late January 2026, according to CoinMarketCap. It comes after recent volatility, following a pullback from higher levels earlier in the year.
On the other hand, Silver is witnessing a sharp gain and now trading near $83 per ounce, which comes after a sharp correction from peaks above $120 earlier in January.
In this blog, we are going to compare these two contradictory assets. This comparison includes Ethereum’s price momentum from network upgrades and institutional adoption against silver’s momentum from persistent supply deficits and booming industrial use.
While there is no assurance that any asset can dominate, 2026 could see major price movement in both ETH and Silver.
Ethereum’s Technical Upgrades, Institutional Growth, and Price Movement
Ethereum is one of the biggest layer-1 blockchains for decentralized finance (DeFi), NFTs, and tokenized real-world assets (RWAs). Its transition into Proof-of-Stake (PoS) from Proof-of-Work (PoW) in 2022 helped the network to cut energy use impressively. Apart from this, many other upgrades have improved scalability.
For example, the Dencun upgrade (2024) has introduced proto-danksharding via blobs. This helped the network to reduce layer-2 costs. Similarly, Pectra’s (2025) upgrade has enhanced wallet efficiency.
There are many upgrades planned for the upcoming months. In 2026, the Ethereum roadmap comes with Glamsterdam, which is expected in the first half. This upgrade is expected to introduce Proposer-Builder Separation (ePBS) for better block construction and MEV resistance.
This upgrade will be followed by Hegota in late 2026, with Verkle Trees’ progress to address long-term scalability.
“2026 will be the year of Ethereum, much like 2021 was,” Geoffrey Kendrick, Standard Chartered’s global head of digital assets research, said. By citing upcoming upgrades, some analysts are expecting moderate to strong performance for ETH in 2026.
According to some analysts, they are forecasting ETH’s price range from averages around $3,600 to $4,700 by year-end. They have also shared more optimistic targets of $5,000 to $10,000 if institutional flows increase.
Not just this, some Wall Street firms are also suggesting extreme scenarios up to $62,000 by citing a boom in real-world assets (RWAs) tokenization reaching massive scale. However, the realistic target of ETH for this year is around $3,800.
Ethereum’s main strength is linked to over $90 billion in DeFi TVL and a boom in the stablecoin market. After the approval of the GENIUS Act, the stablecoin market has witnessed a sharp surge, revolving around $306 billion in market capitalization, according to DefiLIama.
Silver’s Industrial Surge and Supply Dynamics
Silver’s recent price movement is coming from its dual nature as both a precious metal and an industrial demand. According to the survey, approximately 50% of the demand for silver comes from electronics, solar panels, EVs, and emerging AI-focused hardware.
Global solar installations are rapidly growing, with projections for sustained growth through 2030 as countries target renewable targets. Automotive silver use, which is mainly supported by EVs and charging infrastructure, is expected to grow at a 3.4% CAGR to 2031.
On the other hand, the market is currently facing chronic deficits in its fifth year, with mine production lagging industrial consumption by hundreds of millions of ounces annually. COMEX inventories have declined sharply.
This favorable condition has sparked intense upward momentum. Silver surged dramatically in 2025 and early 2026 before recent pullbacks.
Bullish views from firms like Citigroup suggest that it could reach $150 per ounce in the near term, labeling silver “gold on steroids” amid dollar weakness.
Similarly, Bank of America forecasts suggest that it could average near $56 but potential peaks of $135 to $309 if the gold-silver ratio compresses toward historical lows.
Trading Economics models are suggesting a price range from $105 to $115 by year-end. Silver’s price rally includes tangible scarcity and inflation-hedge qualities, with lower correlation to tech cycles than ETH.
Conclusion: Which Asset Could Lead in 2026?
If crypto markets rebound and continue a bull run, ETH could also see upward momentum with symmetric upside potentially 2x or more, which could outshine silver’s price gains.
However, Silver has been a hot topic lately, and it could benefit from growing industrial demand. The constant deficits and green-tech expansion are expected to provide a floor, which is likely to deliver 50% to 100% returns if ratios normalize.
Silver’s recent volatility is showing risks, but as a precious metal, its fundamentals are more “real economy” anchored than ETH’s.
However, neither is likely to “beat” the other definitively outcomes depend on scenarios.
Also Read: Bitcoin vs Gold: Which is a Better Investment in 2026
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