Silver futures crashed nearly 8% to start the trading week after the Chicago Mercantile Exchange raised its margin requirements. The white metal has been on a tear during the quiet holiday trading season, but the rally could be hitting a roadblock.

January silver futures plunged $6.026, or 7.81%, to $71.17 per ounce at 17:00 GMT on Monday on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Silver prices had reached $84 in overnight trading before staging a massive reversal.

The white metal has rocketed 143% this year, including 21% in the past month.

Gold, the sister commodity to silver, crashed below $4,400 to kick off the holiday-shortened trading week.

January gold futures plummeted $208.60, or 4.58%, to $4,344.10 per ounce. The yellow metal has also had a stellar 2025, climbing nearly 65% and on track for the largest annual increase in five decades.

Exchange operator CME announced on Friday that it has raised its margin requirements, mandating traders to put down more capital on their silver and other metal bets.

In a Friday notice, the operator conducted a “normal review of market volatility” and implemented the change. This is typical whenever there is a substantial price gain, effectively forcing investors to maintain a higher minimum cash balance before engaging in futures trading.

Silver’s meteoric run-up has been driven by China’s imposition of silver export restrictions, a weaker US dollar, and expectations of Federal Reserve policy.

But market watchers remain optimistic for the year ahead for gold and silver. JPMorgan Chase, for example, expects gold to hit $5,000 next year and silver to average about $58 per ounce.

In other metal markets, January copper futures plunged $0.268, or 4.59%, to $5.5715 per pound. January platinum futures crashed $364.30, or 14.7%, to $2,113.20 an ounce. January palladium futures tanked $329.30, or 16.28%, to $1,695.00 per ounce.