Investors Pour $56B Into ETFs as Gold and Bitcoin Roar Back

Investors poured more than $56 billion into US-listed ETFs during the week ending Aug. 21, lifting year-to-date inflows past $1.3 trillion.

US equity ETFs took in about half the total at $25 billion. US fixed income added $12.5 billion, international equity funds gathered $5.6 billion, and international fixed income took in $2.5 billion. 

Commodity ETFs were the notable standout, pulling in almost $5 billion, while currency funds at $2.2 billion and alternatives at $2.8 billion also had strong weeks.

The S&P 500 slipped a little over 1% last week, pulling back from the record highs it had set the week before. Bonds stayed under pressure even after the Treasury Department moved to support the market, announcing it would double the size of its long-dated debt buybacks. 

Yields fell briefly on the news but quickly reversed, leaving the 30-year Treasury yield not far from the 19-year high above 5.3% it reached on Aug. 17.

The Treasury’s attempts to keep long-term yields down revived the so-called debasement trade. The SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) took in $3.4 billion and the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) added more than $1 billion as both gold and bitcoin spiked. Gold is now back in the green, up around 8% on the year after spending much of the summer underwater. IBIT remains down about 10% in 2026, though that is a marked improvement from the 33% loss it was nursing at its worst point in June.

On the other side of the ledger, the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) led outflows, shedding $1.7 billion. Semiconductor stocks have been treading water lately, chopping up and down after starting the third quarter under pressure. 

The broader AI trade remains intact, but it has grown increasingly volatile as investors go back and forth over whether the rally is sustainable and whether the group has already peaked.

For a full list of last week’s top inflows and outflows, see the tables below

Top 10 Creations (All ETFs)