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Silver and gold futures are falling sharply after the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, one of the world’s largest trading floors for commodities, required traders to put up more cash to invest in precious metals

NEW YORK — Silver and gold futures fell sharply Monday after the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, one of the world’s largest trading floors for commodities, asked traders to put up more cash to make bets on precious metals with prices surging this year.

This year, gold futures are up 65% and silver has more than doubled.

The CME raised margin requirements for gold, silver and other metals in a notice posted to the exchange’s website Friday. These notices require traders to put up more cash on their bets in order to insure against the possibility that the trader will default when they take delivery of the contract.

Exchanges sometimes boost margin requirements when a commodity or other security goes on a significant run. In its notice, the CME said it was raising margin requirements “per the normal review of market volatility.”

Silver futures tumbled 8% early Monday while gold slid 5%

Silver prices have skyrocketed this year, topping records dating back to the early 1980s when traders tried and failed to corner the silver market. Supplies have dwindled, with production at major mines slowing. At the same time there’s been an increased industrial need for silver for solar panels as well as data centers.

Silver futures were roughly $30 an ounce at the beginning of 2025, and briefly touched $80 an ounce before the CME’s announcement.

Gold futures have risen due in part to geopolitical uncertainty and fears that a bubble is forming in some stock markets. Silver is sometimes referred to among investors as the “poor man’s gold” because it trades in similar patterns as gold for a fraction of the price. But unlike gold, silver has more industrial applications so it tends to more volatile and more exposed to economic cycles.