ETH vs SLV: Performance Comparison

Last updated: December 29, 2025

Gale Research Team
Written by Gale Research Team Financial Data Analysis
Sid Kalla
Reviewed by Sid Kalla CFA Charterholder

Analysis period: 2024-12-30 to 2025-12-27

ETH Total Return
-13.5%
SLV Total Return
+169.1%

Relative Performance (Normalized to 100)

ETH SLV

Normalized to 100 at start date for comparison

Key Takeaways

  • Raw returns: SLV outperformed with 169.1% total return vs -13.5% for ETH.
  • Risk-adjusted (Sharpe): SLV had better risk-adjusted returns with a Sharpe ratio of 3.32 vs 0.12 for ETH.
  • Volatility: SLV was less volatile at 30.5% annualized vs 75.7% for ETH.
  • Max drawdown: SLV had a shallower max drawdown of -13.8% vs -60.1% for ETH.

Correlation Analysis

0.01 Average Correlation

ETH and SLV are weakly correlated over the past 6 months. With a correlation of 0.01, these assets show some independence, offering moderate diversification when held together.

Metric Metric Value
Current (30-day) 0.14
Average (full period) 0.01
Minimum -0.38
Maximum 0.39

Correlation measures how closely two assets move together. Values near +1 indicate strong co-movement, near 0 indicates independence, and negative values indicate inverse movement.

Investment Comparison

If you invested $10,000 in each asset on December 30, 2024:

ETH $8,650.48 -13.5%
SLV $26,908.82 +169.1%

Difference: $18,258.34 (SLV ahead)

Risk Analysis

ETH experienced its maximum drawdown of -60.1% from 2025-01-07 to 2025-04-09. It took 103 days to recover.

SLV experienced its maximum drawdown of -13.8% from 2025-10-16 to 2025-10-27. It took 32 days to recover.

Smaller drawdowns and faster recoveries indicate lower downside risk and greater resilience during market stress.

Sharpe Ratio

ETH Sharpe Ratio
0.12
SLV Sharpe Ratio
3.32

The Sharpe ratio measures return per unit of risk (volatility). A higher Sharpe indicates better risk-adjusted performance. SLV delivered 27.7x more return per unit of risk than ETH.

A Sharpe above 1.0 is generally considered good, above 2.0 is excellent. Negative Sharpe means the asset underperformed the risk-free rate.

Sortino Ratio

ETH Sortino Ratio
0.19
SLV Sortino Ratio
4.88

The Sortino ratio measures return per unit of downside risk. Unlike Sharpe, it only penalizes negative volatility. SLV had better downside-adjusted returns.

A higher Sortino is better. It's particularly useful for assets with asymmetric volatility (big gains, smaller losses). Downside volatility: ETH 49.2% vs SLV 20.8%.

Understanding Volatility

ETH's annualized volatility of 75.7% means it typically moves ±3.96% on any given day.

SLV's annualized volatility of 30.5% means it typically moves ±1.92% on any given day.

For comparison, the S&P 500 typically has 15-18% annualized volatility, translating to roughly ±1% daily moves. Higher volatility means larger potential gains but also larger potential losses.

Performance Over Time

Metric ETH SLV
30 Days -1.7% 46.9%
90 Days -28.1% 69.9%
180 Days 19.2% 118%
1 Year N/A N/A

Shorter time frames can show different leaders as market conditions change. Consider your investment horizon when comparing performance.

Full Comparison

Metric ETH SLV
Total Return -13.5% 169.1%
Annualized Volatility 75.7% 30.5%
Sharpe Ratio 0.12 3.32
Sortino Ratio 0.19 4.88
Max Drawdown -60.1% -13.8%
Avg Correlation to S&P 500 0.02 0.18