Investors Shift from AI to Gold and Bitcoin

The Great Rotation

For over a year, AI investments dominated Wall Street. Nvidia became the face of the boom as tech companies planned to spend more than $730 billion on data centers by 2026. But last week, something changed.

Investors poured $7 billion into gold and Bitcoin ETFs in just five days - the highest inflow ever recorded for that span. SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) and BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) both cracked the top 10 most traded funds. IBIT, which had seen money leave earlier this year, is now back in positive territory for 2026.

Meanwhile, semiconductor ETFs that led the market through the summer slipped down the rankings. It is not that AI is going away - the spending plans prove otherwise - but the spotlight has shifted.

Why the Move to Hard Assets?

The trend has a name: the debasement trade. It is what happens when investors worry their cash will lose value and turn to limited-supply assets like gold and Bitcoin instead. Several factors lined up last week to push that fear.

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On August 19, the U.S. Treasury doubled its buyback of long-term bonds from $2 billion to $4 billion to improve market liquidity. That same day, the national debt officially passed $40 trillion. The dollar lost ground, Bitcoin crossed $80,000, and gold climbed. By August 25, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs took in $314.3 million in a single day.