Recently, silver has been a hot topic, and many people ask me whether there’s something like a “silver passbook.” Honestly, Taiwan’s banking system basically doesn’t have this kind of product—this is a common misunderstanding.

After investing in silver for years, the tools I can actually operate with are only a few: physical silver bars, silver ETFs, silver futures, silver CFDs, and mining stocks. Each one has different costs, risks, and suitable types of investors, so you need to first figure out what you want.

Let’s start with why you should look at silver instead of just focusing on gold. Silver’s uses are far broader than gold’s—solar panels, electric vehicles, semiconductors, 5G, and AI data centers all use silver. This year, with the explosion of green energy and AI, silver demand has increased by more than 20% year over year, so silver isn’t just a safe-haven asset; it’s also an industrial metal. In terms of price, silver is much cheaper: gold is roughly 30 to 120 times the price of silver, making it easier for smaller investors to get started. Most importantly, silver is more volatile than gold. When the market trend is bullish, silver often sees catch-up rallies, and the profit percentage can be 1.5 to 2 times that of gold. However, the risks are also higher—you need to be able to withstand short-term fluctuations.

When it comes to physical silver bars, many people ask where to buy them. Taiwan banks, jewelry stores, and precious metal dealers all sell silver bars. The buy-sell spread is usually 5% to 20%, and you also need to factor in storage costs and risks. The advantage is there’s no counterparty risk; the downside is slow liquidity, which makes it suitable for people who truly want to hold physical assets.

Silver ETFs are a good mid- to long-term choice. For example, the US stock ETF SLV has an annual fee rate of only 0.5%. It’s convenient to trade and highly liquid, so you don’t have to worry about storing physical silver. The downside is that you can’t redeem it for physical silver, and the market price may carry a small premium or discount. But for long-term investors, the impact is usually limited.

If you’re already familiar with futures markets, silver futures are traded on COMEX. A standard contract is 5,000 ounces. Margin is about 5% to 10% of the contract value, so leverage is very high. But there’s rollover pressure and the risks are also larger, so it’s only suitable for professional traders.

I personally use silver CFDs more often. They allow two-way trading—you can go long if you expect prices to rise, or short if you expect prices to fall. Leverage can be adjusted by yourself, and on weekdays they can be traded for almost 24 hours. The minimum unit can be as flexible as 1 ounce. Costs are mainly the bid-ask spread, with no additional commissions. They’re suitable for people who want to capture silver’s short-term volatility—especially office workers who only have time to trade after work. Taiwan time from 8:00 PM to 2:00 AM is when the European and American sessions overlap, which brings the highest market volatility and the clearest signals—making it the best time for short-term trading.

Silver mining stocks are another option. Investing in companies that extract silver lets you participate indirectly in silver price gains, and their volatility is usually 2 to 3 times that of silver. But stock prices are affected by factors such as company management, costs, regional risks, and more. They don’t simply track silver, so you need to be willing to research individual stocks.

How do you choose? First ask yourself what you want. Are you looking for long-term value preservation and protection against inflation? Physical silver bars are a steady starting point, but you need to be able to tolerate a 20% to 30% pullback. Do you want to participate in swing trading and profit from volatility? ETFs and CFDs—tools with high liquidity and flexible trading hours—are more suitable.

The second consideration is your lifestyle rhythm. Silver ETFs follow US stock market opening hours. Futures and CFDs are concentrated during the periods when the European and American markets are active (in Taiwan, that’s at night). Bank products are only available during weekday daytime business hours. For office workers, it’s best to choose tools you can trade after you get off work.

Finally, silver’s average annual price swing amplitude is close to 20%, far higher than gold’s 14.7%. No matter which approach you choose, you must first figure out how much loss you can tolerate, and then decide how much capital to invest and what leverage multiplier to use. Remember this: it’s not that you can make money only if you have more capital—it’s that you know how to make your money work effectively. The opportunity in silver is there; the key is finding the approach that fits you.