My Guide on How to Pick the Right Silver ETF in 2025

Silver prices are once again at all-time highs. For U.S. investors, that reflects a mix of forces: the so-called “debasement trade,” where expanding money supply and mounting national debt erode the dollar’s purchasing power; accelerating demand for industrial metals; and a global backdrop of rising geopolitical instability. In short, investors are once again turning to silver as both a hard-asset hedge and a play on future economic growth.

There’s no shortage of choice in this space. U.S. investors can pick from dozens of silver ETFs (and a few CEFs), but not all are created equal. Some carry high tracking error, others charge steep management fees, and a few add unnecessary complexity through futures, K-1 forms, or synthetic exposure.

To find the right silver ETF for your goals, it helps to define what you’re trying to achieve. Are you looking to hold silver long-term as a hedge against currency debasement? Convert its volatility into a source of income? Or simply express a short-term bullish trade on price momentum?

For each of these main objectives, I’ve chosen what I believe to be the best silver ETF based on fees, liquidity, and purity of exposure. It’s just my view, so if you already have a favourite fund that fits your needs, stick with it—but here’s how I’d approach each category.

Buy-and-Hold

For buy-and-hold investors, low fees and simplicity matter most. The less you pay and the fewer moving parts involved, the better your long-term outcome.

In this category, my pick is the abrdn Physical Silver Shares ETF (SIVR), which charges a reasonable 0.30% expense ratio and holds $3.26 billion in assets. Unlike most ETFs structured under the Investment Company Act of 1940, SIVR falls under the Securities Act of 1933, which is typical for physically backed commodity trusts.

SIVR directly holds physical silver bars stored in vaults operated by ICBC Standard Bank in the United Kingdom. This custodian arrangement is fully audited, and what I particularly like is the fund’s transparency—you can view an updated list of every silver bar held in the trust, complete with serial numbers and vault inspection letters.

Each “basket” of SIVR shares corresponds to about 47,630 ounces of silver (as of October 24, 2025), meaning authorized participants can create or redeem ETF shares in exchange for the underlying metal. This structure keeps SIVR’s price closely aligned with its net asset value (NAV), preventing the premiums or discounts you often see in closed-end funds.

For investors who want long-term exposure to physical silver without the hassle of storing bars or paying dealer premiums, SIVR offers a clean, transparent, and cost-effective solution.

Selling Options

Silver works just as well as gold for covered call or cash-secured put strategies because its volatility tends to spike during periods of uncertainty. Higher volatility translates into higher option premiums, which means more income potential for option sellers.

In strong bull markets like we’re seeing now, those premiums can be even richer. The trade-off, of course, is that you’re capping your upside in exchange for immediate income, and those premiums are taxed as short-term gains.

For this role, my choice is the iShares Silver Trust (SLV). With about $23.8 billion in assets and over 495 million ounces of silver in trust (roughly 15,419 tonnes), it’s the largest and most liquid silver ETF on the market. While its 0.50% expense ratio sits in the middle of the pack and makes it less ideal for long-term buy-and-hold investors, SLV’s massive trading volume and tight spreads make it perfect for options-based strategies.

The ETF’s 30-day median bid-ask spread is just 0.02%, with an average trading volume of about 51 million shares over the same period, so execution is efficient even for larger trades. SLV also boasts an exceptionally active options chain, featuring weekly expirations, numerous strike prices, and deep open interest—everything you want when writing covered calls or cash-secured puts.

Another advantage is accessibility. At around $43.56 per share, a single options contract (representing 100 shares) requires only about $4,356 in capital. For investors looking to generate income from silver’s volatility rather than simply hold it, SLV offers the right balance of liquidity, pricing, and flexibility.

Amplified Upside

If you’re after amplified upside in silver, you could buy silver futures or call options on SLV—but both come with steep learning curves, high volatility, and tax complications that make them poor fits for most investors. And leveraged silver ETFs aren’t much better. Many suffer from sloppy long-term tracking and K-1 tax forms that can make a simple investment far more complicated than it needs to be.

Instead, my preferred option is the Global X Silver Miners ETF (SIL). It may not seem intuitive at first, but when you think about how silver mining companies operate, it’s actually a cost-effective and accessible way to gain leveraged exposure to the metal.

Here’s why: silver miners’ revenues move with the price of silver, but their operating costs—things like labour, energy, and equipment—are relatively fixed. So, when silver prices rise, profits can expand much faster than the metal’s price itself. Add in the fact that most miners use some degree of debt financing, and the leverage effect magnifies returns even further.

It’s not financial wizardry, just operating leverage in action. A small uptick in silver prices can drive a much larger percentage increase in earnings—but that same leverage also works against you if silver falls.

SIL has about $3.66 billion in assets, holds 38 stocks, and tracks the Solactive Global Silver Miners Total Return Index. The ETF’s 30-day median bid-ask spread sits at 0.07%, and its 0.65% expense ratio is higher than average but still reasonable for a specialized, equity-based strategy.

As you’d expect, SIL has a strong Canadian presence, with roughly 62% of its portfolio invested in domestic miners. Notable names include Pan American Silver, First Majestic Silver, and Wheaton Precious Metals—the latter technically a streaming company rather than a miner.

During strong bull markets, these companies can dramatically outperform ETFs that hold physical silver directly, offering a high-risk, high-reward way to play the metal’s momentum.