Silver ETF Saw Nearly 100% Turnover on Thursday

The iShares Silver Trust (NYSE: SLV) has been the most highly traded security on the planet this week, as traders use the ETF to play the wild swings in the metal.

The $12.5 billion silver exchange-traded fund has replaced SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSE: SPY) recently as the most active ETF by share volume.

Nearly 295 million shares of the silver ETF changed hands on Thursday, a record, as the fund dropped more than 10% and silver prices were crushed by profit taking and a spate of margin hikes.

As of May 5, the silver ETF had 338.4 million shares outstanding.

The amount of bullion held by iShares Silver Trust has fallen to 10,269 metric tons from more than 11,000 metric tons amid the selling.

Other ETFs tracking silver include ETFS Physical Silver (NYSE: SIVR) and PowerShares DB Silver (NYSE: DBS).

More from ETFTrends:

• The All-ETF 401(k) – It's Happening Now
• PowerShares Launches International Corporate Bond ETF
• First Trust Makes a Name for Itself With Top-Performing ETFs

Want to read more about SLV? Add it to My Watchlist, which will find all of our Foolish analysis on this ETF.