CFTC Data Reveals Crowded Bets Ahead of Triple-Leveraged Silver ETC's 28% Weekly Collapse

WisdomTree's silver leveraged ETC lost 25.19% in a week as a hot US jobs report triggered rate hike fears, amplifying losses from crowded speculative longs.

The WisdomTree Silver 3x Daily Leveraged ETC just suffered its worst weekly rout in months, shedding 25.19% over five sessions. Friday alone wiped out roughly 20% of the product's value. The trigger was well telegraphed — a red-hot US jobs report that shifted rate expectations — but a new layer of risk has emerged from the positioning data that preceded the crash.

The latest CFTC Commitments of Traders report for COMEX silver futures, covering the week ended June 2, shows speculative traders were piling into bullish bets right before the sell-off. Total open interest stood at around 103,000 contracts. Non-commercial accounts held more than three times as many long positions as shorts. Over that week, long positions increased by 1,175 contracts while shorts fell by 528. This one-sided positioning left the market vulnerable to a sharp reversal — exactly what the jobs report delivered.

Employment in the US rose by 172,000 in May, nearly double the 85,000 consensus estimate. The unemployment rate held at 4.3%. That sent a clear signal to bond markets: the Federal Reserve may need to deliver a quarter-point rate hike before year-end. Silver, which offers no yield, tends to suffer in such an environment. The spot price slid below $70 per troy ounce on Friday, touching the lowest level since late March, and lost more than 7% on the week.

The product's construction amplified those losses dramatically. WisdomTree's ETC tracks three times the daily return of the Solactive Silver Commodity Futures SL Index, rebalanced each session. In volatile markets, the daily reset creates a compounding effect that can deviate from simply multiplying the underlying's move. With 30-day annualized volatility at a staggering 137.25%, that mechanism is currently working against holders. The management fee sits at 0.99%, and the fund holds roughly 330 million euros in assets.

The price action stands in stark contrast to the physical silver market's fundamentals. Global supply posted a deficit of 40.3 million ounces in 2025 — the fifth consecutive year of shortfall — and a further 46.3 million ounce deficit is expected in 2026. Cumulative above-ground stock drawdowns since 2021 now total 762.1 million ounces. Industrial demand from solar manufacturing, electric vehicles, and data centers continues to provide a floor, but that support is being overwhelmed by rising rate expectations and a firmer dollar.

Analysts remain deeply divided on where silver heads next. J.P. Morgan Global Research sees the metal averaging $81 per ounce in 2026. Citigroup is more aggressive, targeting $110 in the second half of next year. Those optimistic calls hinge on persistent physical tightness and growing industrial consumption. On the other side, UBS argues that weaker investment demand, softening industrial offtake, and higher mine supply will keep prices largely range-bound.

Geopolitical uncertainty adds another layer. Peace negotiations in the Middle East have been described as advanced, but Iran and the associated Hezbollah have signaled opposition to key proposals. Such risks can historically support precious metals, but for now the interest-rate narrative is dominating price action.

The next critical data point arrives on June 12, when the CFTC publishes its next positioning report. That release will reveal whether the speculative crowd cut its longs after Friday's plunge or held steady. A positioning reset could ease further downside pressure, while stubbornly bullish bets risk another violent shakeout. For holders of the triple-leveraged ETC, the key technical level remains $70 per ounce in spot silver. A reclaim of that mark could spark a powerful snapback; a failure risks extending the pain as volatility and rate fears continue to feed each other.