Gold and silver have started 2026 strong, with both metals hitting fresh highs as investors navigate market volatility brought on by the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, questions about the Fed’s independence, and a proposal to cap credit card interest rates.

According to the World Gold Council, spot gold prices now sit at $4,641 an ounce while spot silver prices broke $90 for the first time in history.

The record highs have translated into strong performance from silver and gold ETFs. Since the start of the year, GLD, the SPDR Gold Trust has risen nearly 7% and raked in over $625M.

“Gold has been the outperformer,” said Kathy Kriskey, Invesco's Head of Alternative ETF Strategy on a recent episode of the ETF Show. “Everyone who says that they made money in commodities this year it’s all about gold. Gold has been the big winner.”

Kriskey explained that gold’s resilience is tied to global “de-dollarization”, a process where nations around the world reduce reliance on the United States dollar.

“As other countries are de-dollarizing, they’re selling their Treasurys, and buying gold,” she said.

While gold performance is handily beating the broad market, which is currently up less than half a percent, moves in silver have proved to be even sharper.

“Silver is a small market. A small, easily manipulated market,” Kriskey explained.

SLV, the iShares Silver Trust has jumped more than 22% so far this year, with the fund pulling in half a billion dollars in the past week alone.

But flows into silver haven’t been as steady as its counterpart. While SLV did pull in roughly $500M in the past week, net flows since the start of the year show a loss of more than $270M.

When you stretch flows to the one year mark, SLV pulled in just $3B, a tiny fraction of the  whopping $24B GLD sucked in over the past 52 weeks.

The strength in precious metals spilled over into cryptocurrencies as investors look for strategic hedges in their portfolios against volatility caused by geopolitical headwinds, persistent inflation, and interest rate moves.

Bitcoin has struggled over the past 6 months, sinking roughly 20% since mid July. But with renewed volatility and investors looking past equities, bitcoin prices have surged over 11% to more than $97,000 since the start of the new year.

Flows into IBIT, the iShares Bitcoin Trust have topped $140M so far this year, and touch $25B since last year.

With the new year underway, interest in precious metals and cryptocurrency suggest that investors are bracing for more volatility, even with the market sitting at record highs.