Gold ETF Inflows Top $8.6B in March
With equity markets rattled by the latest US tariff policies, investors are flocking to the precious metal for safety.
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This golden hour is all day long.
Gold ETFs saw their fourth consecutive month of net inflows in March, totaling $8.6 billion, with 61% coming from North America. The investments pushed total assets under management to a record $345 billion, according to the World Gold Council. Gold has always been a safe haven, but with equity markets rattled by US tariff policies and growing fears of a global trade war, investors are looking to “them thar hills” for stability.
“Gold posted the strongest quarterly returns since 1986, and that momentum has continued into April, largely due to US trade and tariff uncertainty,” said Aakash Doshi, global head of gold strategy at State Street Global Advisors.
Flowing Like Liquid Gold
Gold’s role as a hedge is nothing new, but ETFs make the asset more accessible to investors seeking value preservation in these volatile times. Gold is also trading at historic highs — over $3,200 per ounce — and could hit $3,400 later this year and possibly climb to $4,000–$5,000 within the next few years if bullish conditions persist, Doshi suggested. The three leading gold ETFs by March inflows were:
- SPDR Gold Shares (State Street): $2.86 billion
- SPDR Gold MiniShares Trust (State Street): $1.34 billion
- iShares Gold Trust (BlackRock): $1.3 billion
But it’s not just market turmoil fueling gold’s appeal. For over a decade, there has been a trend of de-dollarization, with countries reducing US dollar reserves in favor of other currencies, or in many cases, gold. “Every four years or so since the Great Financial Crisis, that chatter increases,” Doshi said, adding that central banks, once net sellers, now buy 25%–30% of the annual global gold supply.
Golden Blockchain: Gold-backed cryptocurrencies are also shining. Year-to-date, Paxos Gold (PAXG) and Tether Gold (XAUT) are both up roughly 27% — handily beating the broader crypto market, which is down 22%, according to the S&P Cryptocurrency Broad Digital Market Index.
By contrast, the crypto heavyweights are struggling: Bitcoin is down 10%, Ethereum has plummeted over 50%, and even meme coin Dogecoin has lost more than half its value. Elon Musk’s eponymous, pseudo-government agency just hasn’t been enough to breathe new life into the poor little fella.
