CoinTrade Expands Digital Gift Offerings with Precious Metals - Gold, Silver, and Platinum Now Available

Mercury-operated crypto exchange CoinTrade just leveled up its gift game—adding three precious metals to its Digital Gift® lineup.

The New Shiny Objects

Gold, silver, and platinum join the platform's existing offerings, giving users more ways to diversify beyond traditional crypto assets. Because sometimes you want something that actually glitters.

Strategic Move or Just Following Trends?

While traditional finance institutions debate metal-backed ETFs, crypto platforms are quietly building the infrastructure for digital asset gifting—proving once again that innovation often bypasses legacy systems entirely.

Another day, another expansion in the crypto gift economy—because nothing says 'thinking outside the box' like giving digital precious metals instead of, well, actual precious metals.

Image source: Getty Images.

A great way to invest in AI leaders

If you want a simple way to invest in these leaders, the(VUG 0.43%) is a great option. The exchange-traded fund (ETF) tracks the, which is essentially the growth side of the S&P 500. The fund owns about 165 large-cap growth stocks, but how the ETF is structured means the largest AI players dominate its portfolio. The seven above-mentioned stocks -- Nvidia (12.3%), Microsoft (11.5%), Apple (10.5%), Alphabet (6.6%), Amazon (6.5%), Broadcom (4.4%), and Meta Platforms (4.4%) -- represent more than 55% of its portfolio. That makes the Vanguard Growth ETF one of the most direct and efficient ways to own the companies at the forefront of AI.

Another reason I like the Vanguard Growth ETF is its low cost. Its expense ratio is only 0.04%, making it one of the cheapest ways to hold the market's top growth names. Low fees matter because they keep more of the return in your pocket and make a big difference over time as compounding builds.

The Vanguard Growth ETF's performance has been impressive. Over the past 10 years, it has delivered annualized gains of roughly 17%, beating the S&P 500's return. Over the past five years, it has averaged around 25% a year, and in the last 12 months, it gained nearly 23%. A $1,000 investment 10 years ago WOULD now be worth about $4,850, compared to less than $4,000 if you had put the same amount into the S&P 500.

However, the real key is to continue to invest on a consistent basis through dollar-cost averaging. Even relatively small contributions can add up. Putting an additional $500 a month into an ETF that averages a 15% annual return can grow to close to $3 million in 30 years. Bump that investment up to $1,000 a month, and your ending balance would be more than $5.5 million.

With growth stocks leading this market, the Vanguard Growth ETF has the potential to deliver that type of return in the future. The trade-off is that the ETF is less diversified than a total market fund, so if big tech takes a breather or investors rotate into value stocks, it could lag. But with AI still in the early stages and megacaps driving the innovation, growth stocks look well-positioned to keep leading.