Robert Kiyosaki Sounds Alarm on ETFs—While Gold & Crypto Funds Rake in Record Inflows

Finance guru Robert Kiyosaki just dropped a truth bomb on ETFs—right as gold and crypto funds hit turbocharged inflows. Is this the smart money’s silent revolt against traditional finance?

Gold and crypto ETFs: The new safe havens?

While Wall Street peddles paper promises, hard assets are stealing the show. Gold ETFs just notched their best quarter since 2020. Crypto funds? Eating traditional markets’ lunch with 37% YTD growth—no permission needed from the suits at BlackRock.

The cynical take: Maybe ETFs are just how boomers finally discover Bitcoin—after six years of screaming it’s a scam. Too bad they’ll pay 2% fees for the privilege.

One thing’s clear: When Kiyosaki talks—and when money moves this fast—even your fund manager starts sweating through his bespoke shirt.

• Kiyosaki warns investors to balance ETFs with physical gold, silver, and Bitcoin.
• Gold ETFs hit $38B inflows in H1 2025, the strongest performance since 2020.
• Bitcoin ETF streak ends as Ethereum ETFs record 12 straight days of inflows.

Robert Kiyosaki, author of Rich Dad Poor Dad, has cautioned investors about relying solely on exchange-traded funds (ETFs). In a recent post on X (formerly Twitter), Kiyosaki stated that while ETFs make investing easier for the average investor, they are not a substitute for owning physical assets. He noted that gold ETFs, silver ETFs, and Bitcoin ETFs can be beneficial, but he compared them to having “a picture of a gun for personal defense.” He stressed the importance of understanding when it is best to hold real Gold, Silver, and Bitcoin rather than their paper-backed counterparts.

BEWARE of PAPER

I realize ETFs make investing easier for the average investor….so I do recommend ETFs for the average investor. Yet I extend these words of caution:

For the average investor I recommend:

Gold ETFs
Silver ETFs
Bitcoin ETFs

Yet an ETF is like having a picture…

Kiyosaki’s warning comes as global physically backed Gold ETFs reported $38 billion in net inflows during the first half of the year, according to the World Gold Council (WGC). This marks the strongest semi-annual performance since the first half of 2020. The surge was driven by positive flows in June, with North American and European investors accounting for the majority of the activity.

North America saw its best first-half performance in five years, attracting $21 billion in inflows. Asia followed with $11 billion, contributing 28% of global net flows despite holding just 9% of total assets under management (AUM). Europe recorded $6 billion in inflows, ending a streak of semi-annual losses that began in the second half of 2022.

The combination of rising gold prices and sustained inflows pushed global gold ETFs’ total AUM 41% higher to $383 billion by midyear. Collective holdings increased by 397 metric tons to 3,616 tons, the highest level since August 2022. Gold market trading volumes also set records, averaging $329 billion per day during the period.

Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs Flows Diverge

In the digital asset market, spot bitcoin ETFs ended a 12-day streak of net inflows, posting $131.35 million in outflows on Monday, according to data from SoSoValue. Ark & 21Shares’ ARKB fund saw the largest withdrawal, $77.46 million. Other funds, including those managed by Grayscale, Fidelity, Bitwise, and VanEck, also recorded net outflows, while BlackRock’s IBIT reported no changes.

However, spot ethereum ETFs extended their positive run to 12 consecutive days, with $296.6 million in net inflows on the same day. Fidelity’s FETH led the activity with $126.93 million, followed by $102 million into BlackRock’s ETHA.