Bitcoin breaks out to ~$96,300 as silver’s market cap surges past $5 trillion, overtaking Nvidia

President Donald Trump just slapped a 25% tariff on advanced computing chips like Nvidia’s H200 and AMD’s MI325X, escalating his campaign to reshore semiconductor production and reduce America’s dependence on foreign supply chains, especially in Taiwan.

In a statement released Wednesday, the White House cited national security, saying the U.S. currently produces only around 10% of the chips it uses, calling that reliance a “significant economic and national security risk.”

This new tariff is part of a broader push Trump began last September when he imposed 100% duties on branded pharmaceuticals and 25% tariffs on heavy-duty trucks.

The new chip-specific levies now open a new front in that strategy, directly targeting AI hardware makers.

Nvidia and AMD now face higher costs on some of their most advanced AI processors with the H200 and MI325X both squarely in focus.

Silver just blasted past $93/oz, hitting a new all-time high as the rally in precious metals intensifies. The metal is now up 30% in 2026, with spot prices up 27% year-to-date, pushing silver-linked equities and ETFs sharply higher in Wednesday’s pre-market action.

Hecla Mining, which owns Alaska’s massive Greens Creek Mine, jumped 4.2%, while Endeavour Silver rose 2.5% and First Majestic Silver added 2.7%.

Coeur Mining, which runs the Rochester mine in Nevada, gained 2.6%, while Silvercorp Metals and Teck Resources each climbed 3%. Wheaton Precious Metals was up 1%.

On the ETF side, everything silver ripped higher. The Abrdn Physical Silver Shares ETF and iShares Silver Trust both rose 6.3%, while ProShares’ Ultra Silver ETF surged a massive 12.7%.

Over in London, Fresnillo (last year’s top stock on the FTSE 100 with a 452.5% gain) touched a new record high, rising another 1.9% in early trading.

Bank of America beat earnings forecasts for Q4, pulling in $0.98 per share versus the $0.96 expected, and posting a 12% jump in profit to $7.6 billion.

Total revenue rose 7.1% to $28.53 billion, also ahead of the $27.94 billion consensus, thanks to strength in net interest income, asset management, and equities trading.

Net interest income (NII) climbed 9.7% to $15.92 billion, around $240 million more than analysts expected, per StreetAccount. The bank now sees NII growing another 5% to 7% in 2026, signaling further tailwinds from lending and securities margins.

On the trading side, equities revenue surged 23% to $2.02 billion, beating estimates by $160 million, while fixed income trading inched up 1.5% to $2.52 billion, slightly under expectations by about $120 million.

Despite the solid beat, shares dropped more than 3%, as traders absorbed the full report and guidance. Brian Moynihan, the CEO, struck a confident tone: “While any number of risks continue, we are bullish on the U.S. economy in 2026,” citing resilient consumers and businesses, and clearer policy outlooks.

Citigroup smashed Q4 profit estimates, driven by a sharp rebound in dealmaking and booming corporate banking demand.

The bank’s investment banking fees jumped 35% to $1.29 billion, up from $951 million a year ago. Total banking unit revenue soared 78% to $2.2 billion, with 2025 being record highs for M&A advisory.

Citi ranked fifth in global banking fees for the year, according to Dealogic, as total industry revenue hit $103 billion, the second-highest on record after 2021.

Jane Fraser’s turnaround plan is gaining traction, with analysts pointing to deal flow and advisory strength as key drivers.

David Wagner of Aptus Capital Advisors said Citi might finally be “shedding its laggard reputation.” Despite the beat, shares were down 3.9% Wednesday afternoon, though they gained 65.8% in 2025, crushing both peers and the broader banking index.

Citi also repurchased $13.25 billion in stock last year, helping close its valuation gap with rivals. Expectations are building for continued M&A strength into 2026, especially with rates trending lower.

Wells Fargo shares tumbled as much as 5.8% Wednesday, their worst drop since July 15, after the bank missed Wall Street profit targets and revealed $612 million in severance costs tied to a broader cost-cutting plan.

Total expenses climbed to $13.7 billion, just above the $13.6 billion analysts expected, according to Bloomberg. That included the massive severance outlay, which dragged down Q4 numbers despite stable underlying operations.

Net interest income (NII), the bank’s core earnings from lending, came in at $12.3 billion for Q4, slightly under the $12.4 billion forecast. For the full year, NII reached $47.5 billion, in line with prior guidance that 2025 results would stay flat year-over-year.

Net income for the year totaled $21.3 billion, missing the $21.6 billion consensus. Shares had rallied 25% over the past 12 months, but gave back a chunk of that today.

Charlie Scharf, the bank’s CEO, pointed to the lifting of the Federal Reserve’s asset cap in June as a turning point. “We are excited to now compete on a level playing field,” Scharf said, even as the bank navigates expense pressures.

U.S. crude just hit its biggest discount to Brent in over a year, with West Texas Intermediate (WTI) trading $4.68 below Brent on Wednesday.

That’s the widest gap since October 2024, back when the Iran-Israel conflict had oil traders on edge over Middle East supply.

This spread drives hundreds of millions of dollars in daily trades and cargo flows. And right now, it’s screaming divergence: Europe’s oil market is tightening, while U.S. supply is swelling.

In Europe, things are getting squeezed. Kazakhstan’s CPC Blend shipments have slowed, while outages in Libya and North Sea fields are pushing up prices across the Mediterranean and North Sea. That’s jacked up physical Brent and regional grades.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Gulf Coast is about to absorb up to 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil, swelling domestic inventories and pushing WTI lower.

With those flows unlocked, U.S. supply pressure is back, even as global risks are flaring.

Japanese stocks ripped higher Wednesday after speculation intensified that Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae could call a snap election in February.

It would be her first test at the polls since taking power, and investors are betting she’ll double down on stimulus-heavy, pro-market policies.

The Nikkei 225 jumped 1.61%, pushing above 54,000 for the first time ever, after already soaring more than 3% Tuesday. The Topix also broke new ground, up 0.87%, fueled by hopes that Japan’s monetary and fiscal policy will remain loose under Takaichi.

Meanwhile, the yen got smoked, breaking past 159 per dollar, its lowest level since July 2024, when Tokyo had to intervene to stop the currency’s crash.

That’s now back on the table, as the five-year government bond yield hit 1.615%, the highest since the tenor launched in 2000.

Demand for Japan’s five-year bond auction came in soft, with a bid-to-cover of 3.08, well below the 12-month average of 3.54 and lower than December’s 3.17. Bond futures sold off after the result, as traders price in growing political and rate risk.

Bitcoin surged by as much as 2.4% to $96,348 early Wednesday, hitting its highest level since November 16, after drifting in a tight range through the end of 2025 and the first 2 weeks of 2026.

The mini rally revived the OG crypto’s bulls a bit after logging a 6% year-to-date loss, even as stocks and metals rallied.

Ether climbed even faster than Bitcoin, up by 5.1% intraday, according to data from CoinGecko. Meanwhile, tokenized stocks are booming, with volumes now at a record $800 million per month.

Jupiter Exchange is handling nearly $200 million/month alone, and Robinhood is calling tokenized assets a “freight train.” Back in November, Nasdaq’s crypto lead said they were “moving as fast as they can” to get SEC sign-off on trading them.

Precious metals aren’t sitting still either. Spot gold hovered at $4,591.49/oz as of press time, just below its all-time high of $4,634.33 hit earlier. February gold futures settled 0.3% lower at $4,599.10.

But it’s silver stealing the spotlight, smashing through $90/oz for the first time ever and soaring +25% this year, lifting its market cap above $5 trillion, enough to eclipse Nvidia, now down to $4.52 trillion ahead of earnings. Copper is also on a tear at +40% in 6 months, now trading at record highs.