Silver prices surge to a historic high! A guide for Taiwanese investors on entering silver ETFs

Why Did Silver Prices Surge Suddenly? Opportunities Are Right in Front of You

The silver market in 2025 has experienced an astonishing rally. Driven by factors such as the Fed’s rate cut expectations, global supply shortages, and the U.S. officially listing silver as a critical mineral, the London spot silver price broke through the psychological level of $70 per ounce, reaching a new all-time high on December 23, with a peak of $83.645/ounce.

Since the beginning of the year, silver has gained over 140%, making it one of the best-performing assets in 2025. This performance not only significantly outpaces gold’s increase of over 80% but also clearly surpasses the Nasdaq Composite Index’s approximately 120% return.

However, the overheated market has attracted regulatory attention. CME raised margin requirements twice in December. The latest announcement on December 26 stated that starting after the close on December 29, for example, the initial margin for March 2026 silver futures contracts was increased from about $22,000 to $25,000, a total increase of 25%. This intervention temporarily cooled the rally, with silver prices retreating to the $70-75 range. Nonetheless, market optimism for 2026 silver remains.

What Is Silver ETF? Why Are Retail Investors Buying It?

Silver ETFs are investment funds that track silver prices, allowing investors to participate in silver market movements without holding physical silver. These funds aim to reflect the price trend of silver, so their value fluctuates with silver prices. Like stocks, silver ETFs are listed and traded on securities exchanges, enabling investors to buy and sell anytime during trading hours.

Compared to physical silver, ETFs offer advantages such as simplicity and high liquidity. Traditional physical silver investments require self-storage and safekeeping, involving costs like safe deposit box rentals or professional storage fees. Storing at home risks oxidation, theft, or damage. Buying and selling involve finding reputable silver shops or precious metals dealers, paying a 5-6% spread, and possibly incurring costs for purity and authenticity verification. Physical silver also has low liquidity; when in urgent need of cash, it’s difficult to liquidate immediately, and buyback prices at local shops are often not transparent.

In contrast, silver ETFs convert physical assets into financial products. Investors only need a brokerage account to trade, just like stocks, with the flexibility to enter and exit the market at will, offering much higher liquidity than physical silver. Additionally, investors can participate fully in silver market price movements without the physical burdens of transportation and storage.

How Do Silver ETFs Work?

The operation of silver ETFs is to replicate the performance of silver market returns. To achieve this, ETFs typically hold physical silver bars or use derivatives such as futures contracts linked to silver prices.

The ETF’s value moves in tandem with the silver price in the commodities market. If silver prices rise by 5%, the ETF’s value will also increase by about 5%; conversely, if silver prices fall, the ETF’s value will decline accordingly.

Popular Silver ETFs Full Comparison: How to Choose Among 7 Options?

In-Depth Analysis of Each ETF

SLV – The Largest Silver ETF Globally

Managed by BlackRock, SLV was launched on April 21, 2006, with assets exceeding $30 billion. Since August 2014, it has tracked the LBMA silver benchmark price. SLV’s holdings are primarily physical silver, held by custodian JPMorgan Chase on behalf of the fund. It adopts a passive management approach, not actively trading silver to capture market movements, only periodically selling small amounts to cover operational costs.

AGQ – 2x Leverage, Short-Term Trading Only

Managed by ProShare Capital since December 1, 2008, jointly managed by ProFund Advisors LLC and ProShare Advisors LLC. AGQ tracks the Bloomberg Silver Subindex with a goal of delivering 2x the daily return. It uses derivatives like futures contracts to amplify silver price movements, targeting short-term traders seeking to leverage silver volatility. Due to compounding effects and leverage decay over time, AGQ is suitable only for short-term trading, not long-term holding.

ZSL – Inverse Leverage, For Short Selling

ZSL offers a -2x inverse daily return relative to LBMA silver prices. It is mainly for traders seeking to hedge against silver price declines or profit from downward movements. Its leverage and inverse features mean ZSL is only suitable for short-term trading and not for long-term investment.

PSLV – Closed-End Fund with Physical Redemption

Launched in October 2010, PSLV is a closed-end fund. Unlike open-ended ETFs that continuously create and redeem units to keep price and NAV aligned, PSLV issues a fixed number of units, with market prices determined solely by supply and demand. This often results in premiums or discounts to NAV. As one of the largest silver-themed closed-end funds, it currently manages about $12 billion.

SLVP – Low Cost but Higher Tracking Error

Launched by BlackRock in January 2012, with about $600 million in assets. SLVP tracks the MSCI ACWI Select Silver Miners Investable Market Index, focusing on global silver mining companies. Its management fee is 0.39%, lower than the industry median of 0.5%, offering cost advantages.

However, historically, SLVP exhibits higher volatility and noticeable tracking errors, with frequent component adjustments and wider bid-ask spreads. Its returns are less attractive compared to pure silver exposure.

台灣本地選項：期元大道瓊白銀

成立於2018年5月23日，於同年6月1日正式掛牌。發行價格20元，首日開盤價19.86元，追蹤道瓊白銀超額收益指數。基金不進行收益分配，風險評為「高波動度」。

台灣投資人如何購買白銀ETF？兩大進場方式

方法一：複委託（新手首選）

複委託是台灣投資國際白銀ETF的主流方式， 透過國內券商（如富邦、國泰、永豐、元大等）委託海外券商執行交易，更適合新手或偏好中文介面、資金留在台灣的投資人。

購買步驟：

• 在國內券商開立複委託帳戶，可線上或櫃台辦理，準備證件與銀行帳戶
• 選擇台幣或外幣結算
• 使用券商APP或網頁下單，搜尋白銀ETF代碼（如SLV），多數券商支援定期定額

優點： 受金管會監管安全高、稅務（如股息預扣稅）由券商協助處理、資金不需匯出國外

缺點： 手續費較高、可交易標的有限

方法二：直接開立海外券商帳戶（成本控制）

更直接的投資方式是透過海外券商交易，省去中間商費用，成本較低，交易更迅速。

購買步驟：

• 在線上海外券商平台開戶，準備護照、身分證、地址證明、銀行資料
• 匯款入金（台幣換美元電匯，設定約定帳戶）
• 使用APP或網頁直接下單，搜尋SLV等代碼

優點： 手續費低（多數免佣或低固定費）、標的豐富（全球ETF）、支援進階交易工具（如期權、融資）

缺點： 部分海外券商為英文介面、需自行處理匯款與稅務（美國股息預扣30%，需自行申報退稅）、資金匯出較複雜，缺乏台灣法律保障

買白銀ETF要繳稅嗎？特別扣除額與海外所得怎麼算？

台灣投資人購買白銀ETF的稅務，主要依ETF類型（台灣上市或海外上市）及收益來源（資本利得/價差、配息）而定。由於多為商品型，例如追蹤實物或期貨，通常不會有配息，美國預扣稅及台灣配息稅問題較少。

台灣上市白銀ETF稅務

台灣上市白銀ETF交易視同台股，稅務最簡便——買進免稅，賣出時比率為0.1%。

海外白銀ETF稅務

投資者買入美國白銀ETF，視為海外財產交易所得，計入海外所得。

重點： 當涉及特別扣除額時，計算方式與海外所得密切相關。根據台灣稅法，投資人全年海外所得合計須符合以下規則：

• 門檻： 全年海外所得≤100萬元，免計入最低稅負；超過則全部計入基本所得額（含其他海外項目如股利、利息）
• 稅率： 基本所得額扣除750萬元特別扣除額後，超出部分按20%稅率計算
• 計算範例： 若基本所得額為600萬元，未超過750萬元上限，稅額為0；若為1000萬元，超出部分250萬元，稅額=250萬×20%=50萬元

建議投資前詳細了解自己全年海外所得，確認是否超過100萬元門檻，以便提前規劃稅務。

白銀ETF與其他投資方式：收益與風險全方位比較

由此可見，2025年預期最高收益的方式是白銀期貨，但風險也最大。白銀ETF雖然收益較低，但因操作便利、風險較低，較適合新手和小資族。白銀CFD則兼具交易便利與槓桿優勢，適合短期操作。

投資白銀ETF的風險與注意事項

白銀ETF追蹤銀價雖然方便且流動性高，但投資風險不可忽視。

( 1. 白銀價格波動極大

白銀價格波動遠超黃金和股市。2025年雖漲逾140%，但歷史上常有劇烈回檔。12月29日保證金調升後，國際銀價曾出現超過11%的盤中閃崩，導致不少投資者當日遭受重大虧損。因此，白銀ETF較適合風險承受能力較高的投資者。

) 2. ETF存在追蹤誤差

期貨型ETF受展倉成本影響，長期回報可能低於現貨；實物型ETF追蹤較為精準，但年費約0.4-0.5%，會侵蝕收益。

( 3. 海外ETF存在匯率風險與稅務問題

銀價還受地緣政治、工業需求（如太陽能、電子）及貨幣政策影響。投資者需定期監控這些外部因素對白銀價格的潛在衝擊。

結論：白銀ETF適合你嗎？

從資產配置角度看，白銀ETF是投資貴金屬的有效工具。它以證券化形式，省去實體白銀存儲與交割的麻煩，並具有高流動性與交易便利，適合想參與白銀行情、又不想負擔實物管理成本的投資人。

但需注意，白銀價格波動較大，易受工業需求與市場情緒影響。不同白銀ETF在管理費率、追蹤方式（如是否用槓桿、是否持有實銀）等方面也有差異。

建議投資人採取分散配置，避免過度集中於單一商品，並定期檢視市場變化與自身持倉。如對海外稅務與特別扣除額有疑慮，建議先諮詢專業稅務顧問，確保投資策略符合預期收益與個人風險承受能力。