Americans Spend 7 Hours a Day on Screens and Earn Nothing. Silver Just Hit a 6-Year Deficit. One Story Explains the Other.

BREAKING: Iran Back in the News Cycle

Every day it’s the same. You open your phone. You read about Epstein. About tensions with Iran. You react to Trump’s latest decisions. Then you watch another SpaceX launch and wonder if people will really fly to Mars one day.

You scroll. You react. Hours on your phone. Every. Single. Day. And what do you earn from it? Nothing.

Mode Mobile thinks your phone should do more. The company is exploring how everyday phone use could create earning opportunities.

Already: 490M+ users. 59,000+ investors. $115M in revenue and $11.8M as EBITDA.

Mode Mobile’s EarnPhone technology is built to turn phones into earning devices. And the company has discussed a Potential IPO.

Maybe it’s time your phone did more than just show you the news.

The average American spends 7 hours and 3 minutes per day staring at screens. They check their phone 96 times. They consume 4 hours and 37 minutes of mobile content alone. Over a year, that is roughly 2,567 hours — the equivalent of 107 full 24-hour days — spent scrolling, reacting, watching, and engaging with content created by other people and platforms owned by trillion-dollar companies.

Here is the number that should stop everyone cold: the total value of that attention is not zero. It is enormous. Global digital advertising — the market that monetizes your scrolling, your clicks, your engagement — exceeded $870 billion in 2025 and is projected to cross $1 trillion by 2027. Apple, Google, Meta, and Amazon collectively earned over $500 billion last year by capturing and selling the attention that you provide for free. Every time you check your phone, you generate data and engagement worth money. But none of that money flows back to you.

This is the structural imbalance at the center of the modern economy: the people who provide the most valuable resource (attention) receive zero compensation, while the platforms that capture and resell it become the most valuable companies in history. The question is whether that model is sustainable — or whether the companies building alternatives will capture the next wave of value creation.

The companies challenging this model are already showing traction.

Every day it’s the same. You open your phone. You read about Epstein. About tensions with Iran. You react to Trump’s latest decisions. Then you watch another SpaceX launch and wonder if people will really fly to Mars one day. You scroll. You react. Hours on your phone. Every. Single. Day. And what do you earn from it? Nothing. Mode Mobile thinks your phone should do more. The company is exploring how everyday phone use could create earning opportunities. Already: 490M+ users. 59,000+ investors. $115M in revenue and $11.8M as EBITDA. Mode Mobile’s EarnPhone technology is built to turn phones into earning devices. And the company has discussed a Potential IPO. Learn more (AD).

You Are Paying a $500 Billion Attention Tax Every Year — And You Don’t Even Know It

Screen time has climbed every single year since researchers began tracking it. There has never been a year-over-year decline. Not during post-pandemic normalization. Not when Apple introduced Screen Time controls. Not when digital wellness became a mainstream conversation. The apps competing for your attention have gotten dramatically better at capturing it. The companies building alternatives — platforms that let users earn from their own phone activity — are attacking the most fundamental imbalance in the digital economy.

Every Phone Screen You Stare At Contains Silver — And the Supply Just Hit Its Sixth Deficit

Here is where these two stories converge. The smartphone you spend 7 hours a day looking at contains silver. The touchscreen, the circuit board, the solder connections, the antenna — all require silver. Every EV battery uses silver. Every solar panel uses silver. Every 5G antenna uses silver. Every AI data center chip uses silver. And the Silver Institute projects a 67-million-ounce supply deficit in 2026 — the sixth consecutive year where demand has exceeded supply.

Silver surged nearly 150% in 2025 and hit an all-time high above $120 per ounce in early 2026. Musk publicly commented that silver’s rise is “not good” because it is essential across Tesla’s manufacturing processes. Trump signaled new “critical minerals” executive actions that could further tighten domestic supply chains. And since 2021, above-ground inventories have been drawn down by over 762 million troy ounces to cover the shortfall.

Your Screen Time Is Consuming a Resource That Is Running Out — And Both Stories Point to the Same Opportunities

Every hour you spend on your phone, you are simultaneously being monetized (your attention generates ad revenue you never receive) and consuming a scarce resource (silver, which is in its sixth consecutive deficit). The companies positioned at both of these imbalances — the ones building technology that lets users earn from their attention, and the physical metal that every phone, solar panel, and EV requires — are where the structural opportunities sit. Trump’s “critical minerals” signals and Musk’s public warning about silver prices are both pointing in the same direction: the supply-chain story is about to get much louder.

Trump’s Silver Move (What’s Next?)

If you missed silver’s run in 2025, you’re not alone.

Silver surged nearly 150% last year — and the move may not be over.

Now Elon Musk is publicly reacting to silver’s rise, warning it’s “not good” because silver is needed across major industrial processes.

And with Trump signaling new “critical minerals” actions, the supply-chain story could get even louder.

That’s why we put together a FREE guide that breaks down 3 simple steps to potentially profit from what happens next.

Silver Is Not Just a Metal. It Is the Raw Material for Every Technology You Use.

Unlike gold, which is primarily a monetary metal, silver has a split personality. Roughly 55-60% of annual silver demand comes from industrial uses — solar panels alone consumed an estimated 194 million ounces in 2026. EVs, 5G infrastructure, AI data centers, and semiconductors are all accelerating demand at a time when mine supply grows at barely 1-2% per year. And 70% of silver is produced as a by-product of zinc, lead, and copper mining, meaning supply does not respond quickly to price increases.

J.P. Morgan projects silver to average $81/oz in 2026. Commerzbank targets $90/oz by year-end. When both monetary demand (safe-haven, dollar devaluation protection) and industrial demand (solar, EVs, AI infrastructure) surge simultaneously, silver has historically produced its most explosive moves. The conditions forming right now — persistent deficits, green tech expansion, tightening inventories, and geopolitical tension — mirror those setups at a larger scale than ever before.

Missed silver’s boom? Here’s what’s next

Silver surged 150% in 2025. Musk warned the price rise is “not good” for industrial processes. Trump is signaling “critical minerals” actions. Sixth consecutive supply deficit projected for 2026. A free guide breaks down 3 steps to potentially profit from what happens next.

Bottom Line

The average American spends 7 hours and 3 minutes per day on screens — 2,567 hours per year — generating over $500 billion in annual revenue for Google, Meta, Apple, and Amazon. The compensation flowing back to the people providing that attention is exactly zero. Screen time has never declined year-over-year, not once, despite every digital wellness initiative ever launched. The platforms are getting better at capturing attention faster than users are getting better at protecting it. The structural imbalance between who provides the value and who captures it is the defining economic asymmetry of the digital era.

Meanwhile, every device capturing that attention contains silver — and the supply is running out. The Silver Institute projects a 67-million-ounce deficit in 2026, marking the sixth consecutive year where demand has exceeded supply. Since 2021, above-ground inventories have been drawn down by over 762 million troy ounces. Silver surged 147% in 2025. Musk publicly warned the price rise is "not good" for industrial manufacturing. Trump is signaling "critical minerals" executive actions. And J.P. Morgan projects silver to average $81/oz in 2026 while Commerzbank targets $90/oz by year-end.

These two stories are connected by a single thread: the technologies consuming your attention are the same technologies consuming silver. Solar panels, EVs, 5G antennas, AI chips, and the smartphones in your hand all require silver to function. As screen time rises globally and green technology buildouts accelerate, demand for silver is being pulled from multiple directions simultaneously while supply — 70% of which is produced as a by-product of other mining — cannot respond fast enough. The gap between demand and supply is physical, measurable, and widening every quarter.

The companies positioned at both imbalances — the ones building platforms that let users earn from their own phone activity, and the physical metal that every piece of modern technology requires — represent the structural opportunities that emerge when long-standing assumptions (your attention is free; silver is abundant) collide with the data proving otherwise. Both assumptions are being challenged right now. Both windows are open. And neither will announce when they close.