iShares Silver Trust reported a contraction in the size of the trust during the first quarter of 2026, even as silver prices and net asset value per share rose modestly. The trust, which trades on NYSE Arca under the ticker SLV and holds silver bullion to track the price of silver before expenses, filed its quarterly report for the period ended March 31, 2026, on May 7, 2026. During the quarter, SLV’s net assets fell 6.24% to $35.67 billion at March 31, 2026, from $38.05 billion at December 31, 2025. The decline was driven primarily by net share redemptions: shares outstanding decreased to 542,000,000 from 582,950,000, a net reduction of 40,950,000 shares. The trust said 102,900,000 shares, equal to 2,058 baskets, were created during the quarter, while 143,850,000 shares, equal to 2,877 baskets, were redeemed. SLV issues and redeems shares only in 50,000-share baskets, and only with authorized participants, in exchange for silver rather than cash. The redemptions were concentrated across all three months of the quarter. In January 2026, 50,150,000 shares were redeemed at an average of 0.9064 ounces of silver paid per share. In February, 50,650,000 shares were redeemed at an average of 0.9060 ounces per share. In March, 43,050,000 shares were redeemed at an average of 0.9057 ounces per share. The filing reported no unregistered sales of equity securities; the activity described was the normal creation and redemption mechanism for SLV shares. The trust’s NAV per share increased 0.83%, rising to $65.81 at March 31, 2026, from $65.27 at year-end 2025. That tracked a 0.97% increase in the silver price used by the trust, which rose to $72.69 per ounce from $71.99. SLV said the NAV increase lagged the silver price increase because of the sponsor’s fee. The filing reported the quarter’s highest NAV as $107.35 on January 29, 2026, and the lowest as $60.88 on March 23, 2026. For the quarter, the trust recorded a $497.4 million increase in net assets from operations. That reflected a $26.3 million realized gain on silver bullion sold to pay expenses and a $5.99 billion realized gain on silver distributed for share redemptions, partly offset by a $5.47 billion unrealized loss on silver bullion holdings and a $52.7 million net investment loss. The sponsor’s fee of $52.7 million was the trust’s only reported expense for the period, representing 0.12% of average weighted assets of $42.77 billion. The filing also confirmed that SLV remains a passive grantor trust with no officers, directors or employees of its own. It is administered by The Bank of New York Mellon as trustee, with iShares Delaware Trust Sponsor LLC as sponsor, and its assets consist primarily of silver bullion held by a custodian. No insider trading transactions, option grants, vesting events or transaction-code disclosures were reported in the quarterly filing. In other quarterly disclosures, the trust reported no legal proceedings, no defaults upon senior securities and no material changes to previously disclosed risk factors. The sponsor’s officers, performing roles equivalent to principal executive and financial officers for the trust, concluded that disclosure controls and procedures were effective as of March 31, 2026, and reported no material changes in internal control over financial reporting during the quarter.