Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas says the “debasement trade” is increasingly stealing attention from artificial intelligence, pointing to record demand for gold and Bitcoin exchang
Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas says the “debasement trade” is increasingly stealing attention from artificial intelligence, pointing to record demand for gold and Bitcoin exchange-traded funds.
“Gold and Bitcoin ETFs have combined for +$7b in flows in past week, by far a record for a 5-day period as debasement trade steals spotlight from AI,” Balchunas wrote on X on Aug. 26.
He said SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) and BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) led the move, with both ranking among the 10 most-traded ETFs over the week.
Chart shared by Eric Balchunas on XBalchunas also noted that IBIT’s year-to-date flows had turned positive after recovering from earlier outflows.
The latest comment builds on a post a day earlier, when Balchunas said GLD and IBIT had returned to the top 10 most-traded ETFs while semiconductor funds, which dominated much of the summer, slipped down the rankings.
The rotation is notable because AI has been one of Wall Street’s dominant investment themes over the past year.
Capital has poured into semiconductor makers, hyperscalers and data-center infrastructure, with Nvidia becoming the most visible beneficiary of the boom.
Big Tech data-center spending is also expected to exceed $730 billion in 2026 as companies race to build AI capacity.
Balchunas’ point, however, is that recent ETF activity suggests another trade is gaining ground.
The “debasement trade” refers to investors moving into scarce assets such as gold and Bitcoin when they become more concerned about government debt, deficits, inflation or policies that could weaken the dollar.
The U.S. Treasury said on Aug. 19 that it would double some long-dated Treasury buyback operations from $2 billion to $4 billion, a move aimed at improving liquidity in the bond market.
The announcement came as U.S. government debt surpassed $40 trillion and the dollar weakened.
Bitcoin subsequently climbed above $80,000 on Aug. 25, while gold also moved higher as investors revisited the debasement narrative.
Farside Investors data showed U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs brought in $314.3 million on Aug. 25, extending a run of positive flows.
Balchunas’ argument is not that the AI trade has disappeared. Rather, the record five-day haul for gold and Bitcoin ETFs suggests investors are increasingly allocating capital toward hard assets as concerns over currency debasement move back into focus.
Related: Analyst says Bitcoin surge is a warning sign for U.S. dollar
