BIS: Retail Gold Purchases Tripled Over Past Six Months, While Institutional Selling Accelerates

Bank for International Settlements (BIS) data shows that retail investors’ gold purchases have doubled over the past six months, while institutional investors have accelerated their sell-off during the same period. Since Q2 2025, retail investors have bought approximately $70 billion worth of gold ETFs, with purchases more than doubling in the last six months. Institutional selling began in mid-November last year and accelerated after the precious metals market correction in January. The BIS report states that retail inflows into ETFs and leveraged positions have driven precious metal prices higher, but daily rebalancing of leveraged ETFs and margin-triggered liquidations have amplified price volatility, especially in the silver market. Gold prices have fallen 9% from their all-time high at the end of January, while silver has plummeted 34% during the same period. BIS notes that the decline in precious metals coincides with changing market expectations for U.S. monetary policy and the dollar’s performance, but these changes are difficult to reconcile with underlying fundamentals. Meanwhile, the total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies has fallen about 43% from its October peak.