in brief
- Gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have experienced significant outflows since the launch of the 10 Bitcoin ETFs on January 11th.
- Conversely, the Bitcoin ETFs have witnessed substantial inflows, with the two largest accumulating nearly $10 billion in assets under management (AUM) just over a month after their launch.
- It’s important to note that this doesn’t necessarily imply a direct shift of funds from gold to Bitcoin.
Since the launch of the new spot Bitcoin ETFs on January 11th, which are partly marketed as a contemporary alternative to investing in gold, they have attracted billions in net inflows. However, during this time, a substantial amount of money has been exiting gold ETFs.
The two largest gold ETFs by assets under management, SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) and iShares Gold Trust (IAU), have experienced net outflows. From January 11th to February 14th, investors withdrew approximately $2.6 billion from GLD and about $507 million from IAU, as reported by ETF.com. This stands in contrast to the same period a year ago when both funds witnessed solid inflows, with GLD attracting around $241 million and IAU $86 million.
Out of the 14 gold ETFs examined on ETF.com, 11 have observed net outflows since the beginning of the year.
In contrast, the two largest new spot Bitcoin ETFs, BlackRock’s IBIT and Fidelity’s FBTC, together amassed nearly $10 billion in assets under management since their launch in January. When considering outflows from Grayscale’s GBTC, the spot ETFs as a collective have seen approximately $5 billion in net inflows.
Bloomberg Intelligence senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas described the situation in the gold ETFs category as “pretty bad” in a post on X. He noted that while he doesn’t believe investors are migrating to Bitcoin ETFs entirely, it could partly explain the unfavorable numbers.
Bitcoin is often compared to gold as both are viewed as safe-haven assets by investors seeking protection against inflation and government interference. Previously, it was challenging for those outside the crypto industry to invest in Bitcoin, but that changed with the launch of spot Bitcoin ETFs by ten issuers.
