Data shared by Matt Hougan, CIO of Bitwise, shows the evolution of Gold ETFs over the past twenty years since the launch of the first Gold ETF, GLD, in the US in 2004. From 2003 to 2012, Gold ETFs gained significant popularity because of the convenience they provided compared to owning physical gold. Between 2013 and 2015, these funds saw three years in a row of money being taken out. But from 2016 to 2020, the opposite happened, with money coming in for five years in a row. Visual Cap reported that North America received nearly 66% of worldwide net inflows in 2020, which is noteworthy considering that these inflows occurred amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, a time of great unpredictability. Even so, the price of gold has only risen by a small 30% since the beginning of 2020, in contrast to Bitcoin which has surged by 535%. Comparison between the performance of gold and Bitcoin since January 1, 2020, according to Trading View. On the other hand, Bitcoin, which is often compared to gold in digital form, has experienced impressive growth since the introduction of spot ETFs tied to the leading cryptocurrency five weeks ago. Since their inception, ETFs have received around $4.9 billion in net inflows. According to CryptoSlate, there has been a surge in inflows into Bitcoin ETFs alongside a decline in outflows from Gold ETFs, indicating a potential change in investor preferences. Gold ETFs have seen an increase in inflows (Source: VisualCap). Newest observations