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- ETFs are reshaping portfolio construction as investors use the ETF wrapper to access crypto, commodities, and alternative exposures and prioritize liquidity, transparency, and scalable market access.
- Crypto ETF adoption remains concentrated in Bitcoin, reflecting adviser preferences for assets that align with established portfolio construction frameworks despite a more permissive regulatory environment.
- Commodity and metals ETFs are re-entering strategic asset allocation models as investors respond to inflation risk, supply deficits, and sustained central bank demand.
As ETFs become embedded in the financial system, their versatility is prompting market participants to rethink not just what they offer but how markets are accessed, and funds are structured. Discussions at the recent ETFs in Depth flagship event organized by Bloomberg in New York highlighted three forces pushing the ecosystem into a new phase: the normalization of crypto through ETFs, renewed momentum in metals and commodities, and a structural shift toward ETF share classes that may reshape distribution.
PRODUCT MENTIONS
This article examines these forces and how they are shaping the ETF market, a market that in the U.S. alone has surpassed $13 trillion in assets, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. That scale is prompting asset managers, allocators, and regulators to leverage the ETF wrapper’s defining features, including liquidity, transparency, tax efficiency, and intraday tradability, to address challenges that extend well beyond product innovation.
Crypto ETFs integrated into traditional portfolio construction
Following periods of regulatory uncertainty under successive Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) leaderships, momentum shifted amid a more accommodating regulatory posture in Washington.
“Engagement under the current SEC leadership has become more proactive, and the support extends beyond the SEC to Congress and the Senate Banking Committee,” says Steven McClurg, CEO of Canary Capital. As a result, he argues, the primary bottleneck has moved from regulation to execution.
Currently there is roughly $153 billion in crypto ETF assets, around 130 active products, and approximately 126 filings under review, as Bloomberg Intelligence research shows. However, the vast majority of flows remain anchored in Bitcoin ETFs. “Bitcoin dominates crypto ETFs because it is the only crypto asset that financial advisers broadly understand, and it fits cleanly into existing portfolio construction frameworks,” says Teddy Fusaro, President of Bitwise.
According to Fusaro, beyond Bitcoin, adoption falls off sharply as investors grapple with blockchain mechanics, and the implications of staking, consensus models, and real-world use cases. He says that index-based crypto ETFs emerged as a response to this complexity, offering diversified exposure without requiring investors to underwrite individual protocols or technological architectures.
Looking at Vanguard, while the firm does not offer crypto-related ETFs, John Ameriks, Global Head of the Quantitative Equity Group, says it continues to explore blockchain applications for transmitting index data, improving collateralization, and enabling faster settlement.
Metals and commodity ETFs regaining relevance in multi-asset portfolios
After years on the margins, commodities are regaining relevance in portfolios, with ETFs emerging as the primary vehicle for that return. While crypto continues to capture headlines, Bloomberg Intelligence data shows that commodity ETFs have attracted nearly double the net inflows of crypto ETFs over the course of 2025 To see how gold and other commodities performed in 2025, see our analysis here.
Gold has led the resurgence, benefiting from geopolitical uncertainty, expectations of lower interest rates, and renewed demand for hard assets. “Gold is replacing the dollar as a de facto reserve asset,” says Will Rhind, Founder and CEO of GraniteShares.
Notably, recent gold inflows reflect demand beyond retail investors positioning around interest rates and macro uncertainty. According to Robert Minter, Director of Investment Strategy at Aberdeen Investments, central banks have purchased more than 1,000 tonnes of gold annually for three consecutive years, absorbing roughly one-third of global mine supply.
Industrial metals such as copper and silver are also facing persistent supply deficits amid rising demand from electrification, defense spending, and AI-related infrastructure. “ETF investors, who historically treated gold as a short-term interest-rate trade, are increasingly buying alongside central banks,” says Minter, adding that ETFs have become the primary mechanism through which investors participate once those imbalances become visible.
ETFs are also reframing commodities as portfolio infrastructure rather than opportunistic trades. “Investors are using ETFs to move away from single-commodity bets and short-term timing decisions, toward sustained exposure that addresses inflation risk, fiscal debasement and long-term resource constraints,” says Kathy Kriskey, head of alternatives ETF strategy at Invesco. Broad-based and physically backed commodity ETFs, in this context, provide a rules-based way to maintain exposure across these themes, anchoring commodities as enduring components of asset allocation.
ETF share classes with the potential to reshape fund distribution and retirement access
While ETFs continue to expand access across asset classes, ETF share classes are emerging as the industry’s next structural inflection point, introducing new ways to distribute, tax-optimize, and package the same underlying investment strategy without altering portfolio construction. According to Anna Paglia, Chief Business Officer at State Street Investment Management, more than 70 asset managers have already filed with the SEC to enable multiple wrappers around a single portfolio, signalling broad industry interest driven as much by competitive pressure as by conviction. Expectations, however, remain divided.
As Anna Paglia points out, roughly $4 trillion held in US retirement plans such as 401(k)s, the majority remains structurally unable to hold ETFs, which is a key driver behind adding mutual fund share classes to existing ETF strategies.
Where share classes do matter is flexibility. “ETFs are not universally suitable, particularly for capacity-constrained strategies such as micro-cap equities or state-specific municipal bonds, where the inability to close an ETF could damage investor outcomes,” says Biron Ryan, Head of ETFs at Nuveen. Over time, Ryan believes the deeper impact is likely to be economic rather than cosmetic, with sustained pressure on mutual fund fees, simpler pricing structures, and a broader rethink of distribution economics.
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Insights in this article are based on panels and fireside discussions at the ETFs in Depth event held in New York in December 2025.