Platinum's Wild Ride: Is the Precious Metal Truly More Valuable Than Gold?

That was a rollercoaster ride you won't forget anytime soon. At the beginning of this year, platinum experienced an explosive rally that pushed the price up to nearly $2,925 per ounce. Then came the reality check: within just six trading days, the price fell by over 35 percent. Meanwhile, the market has somewhat stabilized, but the question remains – is platinum really more valuable than gold as an investment?

To understand this, you first need to look at the numbers. Gold is currently trading around $4,850 per ounce, while platinum hovers between $2,000 and $2,100. At first glance, not really – gold is significantly more expensive. But that’s not the whole story.

What surprised me personally: last year, platinum delivered a performance that temporarily overshadowed gold. From early 2025 to January of this year, platinum rose over 100 percent, while gold increased about 70 percent in the same period. That’s remarkable for a metal that has long been underestimated.

The historical perspective is interesting. About ten years ago, platinum was the more valuable precious metal – in 2014, it was over $1,500 per ounce, well above the gold price at the time. But then came a long period of stagnation. Between 2015 and mid-2025, platinum fluctuated around the $1,000 mark, while gold steadily reached new highs. This divergence was actually unusual, because platinum is rarer than gold and has extensive industrial applications – from diesel catalysts to medical implants to fuel cells.

The reason for the long weakness was clear: the automotive industry was suffering, and diesel catalysts were less in demand. But from mid-2025, the picture changed dramatically. A perfect storm of several factors came together – supply shortages in South Africa, which supplies about 70 to 80 percent of global production, structural deficits in the market, geopolitical tensions, and a weak US dollar. This drove platinum prices upward like a rocket.

Now to the practical question: who should consider platinum as an investment? Here, a distinction must be made between two types. Active traders could benefit from the extreme volatility – the price swings offer trading setups rarely seen with gold. Using instruments like CFDs or futures, one can work with this, but you need to know what you’re doing. The platinum futures market is significantly less liquid than the gold market, meaning large price movements can occur more quickly.

For more conservative investors, platinum could be interesting as an addition. It has its own supply and demand dynamics and sometimes behaves independently of stocks and other assets. This makes it potentially valuable for portfolio diversification. Here, one would rather go for ETCs, ETFs, or physical platinum.

Regarding the future, forecasts are mixed. For 2026, analysts predict a range of $1,300 to $2,450 – so there’s considerable uncertainty. The World Platinum Investment Council expects the market to be relatively balanced this year after years of deficit. But long-term, a renewed deficit is expected, especially if the hydrogen economy gains traction. That could support platinum prices in the medium term.

The most important thing: anyone investing in platinum must accept volatility. The extreme price movements of recent months show that this metal is not for the faint-hearted. Solid risk management with stop-loss orders and limited capital per trade is essential. And yes, platinum could be more valuable than gold in the long run – not in price, but in return opportunities if timed correctly.