The Gold Boom Isn't Done - And The Uranium Era Is Beginning: Sprott's 2026 Playbook

Commodities asset manager Sprott (NYSE:SII), known for treating precious metals as a macro signal, is evaluating the market’s structural change following one of the strongest years on record for gold and silver.

The commodity sector, in its view, is no longer a trade—it's becoming a core allocation shaped by politics, policy, and power.

That framework is laid out in Sprott’s Top 10 Themes for 2026 report, which walks investors through a map of a fractured global system. Three ideas dominate the narrative: accelerating deglobalization, the rise of the debasement trade, and the continuation of a gold and silver bull market.

Critical Metals Become Strategic Assets

Deglobalization is no longer a buzzword, but rather a new reality.

"The old global order is dissolving, marked by aggressive geopolitical maneuvers and rising tensions that are destabilizing the international system." Market Strategist Paul Wong and ETF Director Jacob White note.

Governments are now prioritizing sovereignty, supply security, and political leverage over cost minimization, and commodities sit squarely at the center of that trend.

Critical minerals, energy inputs, and even precious metals are being reclassified as strategic assets. Tariffs, export controls, and stockpiling are fragmenting once-unified markets, creating regional shortages and persistent price dislocations. Therefore, copper can now trade at a large premium in one jurisdiction while inventories elsewhere appear sufficient. The old arbitrage mechanisms no longer function smoothly.

The trend is also inflationary. Nearshoring, redundancy, and domestic production all cost more, passing the prices into the global system. Thus, gold regains relevance not just as an inflation hedge but as a reserve asset in a multipolar world. Silver benefits alongside it, both as a store of value and as an increasingly important industrial input.

Price Watch: Sprott Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:SGDM) is up 19.13% year-to-date. 

The Debt Conundrum

The debasement trade is Sprott's shorthand for a long-term shift away from fiat currencies and toward scarce, tangible assets. It's rooted in fiscal dominance—the reality that governments now run chronic deficits so large that central banks are effectively forced to accommodate them.

"In theory, central banks should act independently to maintain price stability. In practice, ballooning deficits and soaring interest expenses have tied policymakers' hands. Every rate hike amplifies the government's debt-servicing burden, creating a feedback loop that incentivizes lower rates and liquidity injections, even when inflation remains above target," Wong and White explain.

By 2025, U.S. public debt had surged past $38 trillion, and few if any developed economies showed political appetite for austerity.

Losing monetary policy independence under those conditions is tough, as rate hikes become self-defeating. Debt-servicing costs explode, pushing policymakers toward liquidity support and balance-sheet expansion. For investors, that is a deadly environment for cash and bonds.

Thus, debasement trade might continue for as long as there is a perceived need for assets that governments cannot summon out of thin air.

Gold Is Still Underowned

Gold sits at the top of that hierarchy, but the theme extends to silver and select commodities where supply is constrained, and demand is policy-driven.

Sprott views the current precious metals bull market as fundamentally different than the past ones. Gold's move really began in 2022, when Russia's foreign currency reserves were frozen, forcing central banks to reassess what is "safe."Since then, sector buying, led by China, has accelerated far beyond speculative flows.

Although investor participation caught up in 2025, Sprott argues gold remains underowned, even after its rally, suggesting the upside skew persists into 2026.

Silver's story is even more dynamic. Once primarily a monetary shadow of gold, silver is now firmly embedded in the industrial economy. Solar, electrification, and AI infrastructure have turned persistent supply deficits into a structural issue. With most silver produced as a byproduct, supply cannot respond quickly to higher prices.

Sprott sees a possible consolidation and a compelling longer-term setup, given silver's dual monetary and industrial role.

Price Watch: Sprott Physical Silver (NYSE:PSLV) is up 26.50% year-to-date.

Uranium: The Emerging Opportunity

Sprott sees Uranium as the emerging cornerstone of energy security, owing to AI-driven power demand and renewed government support for nuclear power.

"The U.S. has made its intentions clear by providing up to $80 billion of funding support to build new reactors, for the first time in many years, among multiple other positive policy actions," the report clarifies.

Finally, copper faces a shortage reality as supply problems collide with electrification and grid expansions. In addition, the firm notes rare earths as a strategic bottleneck dominated by geopolitics rather than price alone.

Price Watch: Sprott Uranium Miners ETF (NYSE:URNM) is up 22.12% year-to-date.

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