Traders are embracing diametrically opposed exchange-traded money (ETF) strategies successful a bid to navigate 1 of the astir unpredictable fiscal markets successful caller history, according to information from Bloomberg Intelligence.
The year-to-date has seen grounds inflows to ETFs providing leveraged agelong vulnerability to volatile assets specified arsenic stocks and cryptocurrencies, arsenic good arsenic funds holding risk-off assets specified arsenic currency and gold, the information shows.
“[T]here's fundamentally grounds flows going into leveraged agelong ETFs but besides currency and golden ETFs arsenic radical bargain the dip and hedge the dip astatine the aforesaid time. May the champion degen win!,” Bloomberg Intelligence expert Eric Balchunas said successful an April 23 station connected the X platform.
Leveraged ETFs are funds that purpose to multiply the regular show of assets similar stocks oregon crypto, often by 2 oregon 3 times.
In 2025, leveraged agelong ETFs attracted nett inflows of astir $6 billion, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. Meanwhile, inflows into currency and golden funds approached astir $4 billion.
Digital gold?
The grounds money flows travel amid a spike successful marketplace turbulence aft US President Donald Trump announced plans for sweeping tariffs connected US imports connected April 2.
Since then, the S&P 500, an scale of ample US stocks, has shed astir 5% of its value, according to information from Google Finance. Bitcoin (BTC), meanwhile, has been comparatively resilient.
On April 22, the cryptocurrency’s spot terms reclaimed $90,000 per coin for the archetypal clip successful six weeks, with Bitcoin ETFs clocking astir $1 cardinal successful nett inflows. The cryptocurrency trades supra $93,000 arsenic of April 23, according to information from Google Finance.
“Even successful the aftermath of caller tariff announcements, BTC has shown immoderate signs of resilience, holding dependable oregon rebounding connected days erstwhile accepted hazard assets faltered,” Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, said successful an April probe report.
Bitcoin has often been referred to arsenic “digital gold” but the cryptocurrency inactive has a anemic correlation to the harmless haven plus and trades much successful enactment with equities, Binance said. Its correlation with golden has averaged astir 0.12 implicit the past 90 days, versus 0.32 for equities.
“The cardinal question is whether BTC tin instrumentality to its semipermanent signifier of debased correlation with equities,” noted the report, adding that golden is inactive a preferred safe-haven plus for astir investors.
Meanwhile, cryptocurrency exchanges are profiting disconnected of rising volatility by doubling down connected fiscal derivatives, specified arsenic futures.
In April, nett unfastened involvement successful Bitcoin futures accrued by upward of 30%, to astir $28 billion, according to data from Coinalyze.
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