While institutional players were selling gold, retail investors were purchasing it through ETFs at record levels. This information was provided by analysts from The Kobeissi Letter, citing the BIS.
Wall Street is selling gold and silver to retail investors:
— The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) March 19, 2026
Since Q2 2025, retail investors have bought +$70 billion in gold ETFs.
These purchases have more than TRIPLED over the last 6 months.
Over the same period, institutional investors have sold -$1 billion with outflows… pic.twitter.com/l5epC5Q5aD
In the second half of 2025 and the first quarter of 2026, private capital invested around $70 billion in gold exchange-traded funds. Over the last six months, the rate of inflows has tripled, with the accumulated volume rising from $20 billion to $60 billion.
“Retail investors are fully focused on precious metals,” experts noted.
Institutional selling began in mid-November and accelerated sharply after the January correction in the precious metals market. Since then, gold has dropped by 9%, while silver has lost 34%.
Source: BIS.The BIS explained the decline as a result of overheated positions. Small speculators had accumulated excessive long positions with high leverage. The subsequent margin calls and liquidations of over-leveraged funds triggered a domino effect.
“The reversal is not related to fundamental changes. It’s a story about retail flows and a chain reaction of forced sales,” specialists emphasized.
They concluded that the drop in gold and silver prices occurred amid changing expectations regarding U.S. monetary policy and the dynamics of the dollar, which has strengthened by 4.7% since the end of January.
“The collapse in precious metal prices appears to coincide with a shift in expectations regarding the U.S. national currency and the direction of the Fed, but it was difficult to reconcile with broader changes in fundamental factors,” the BIS summarized.
Against this macroeconomic backdrop, the cryptocurrency market capitalization has shrunk by about 43% from its October highs. Retail traders' interest in digital assets has nearly evaporated and remains at bear market levels.
Source: CoinGecko.Recall that on March 18, the Federal Reserve kept the key rate unchanged in the range of 3.5-3.75%. The price of Bitcoin fell below $70,000.