This ETF Has Surged An Eye-Watering 470% — And It's Not Even Tech

Author: Chandrima Sanyal | September 25, 2025 12:35pm

While 2025 thus far has been all about headlines regarding AI stocks and semiconductor ETFs, one of the year’s most sensational performers comes from a category few would anticipate: gold miners.

The MicroSectors Gold Miners 3X Leveraged ETF (NYSE: GDXU) has risen more than 470% year-to-date, making it one of the top-performing ETFs in any category.

• GDXU has been a star performer this year. Track its prices in real time.

Unlike bullion-backed funds, GDXU provides triple-leveraged exposure to the NYSE Arca Gold Miners Index, which is a basket of the largest gold mining stocks. That leverage has supercharged returns as gold prices keep hitting new records, rising more than 41% this year.

Several trends have driven the run:

• Federal Reserve rate reductions: Markets are pricing near inevitability of two additional cuts through December, sending the U.S. dollar to multi-year lows.
  
• Central bank purchases: Non-U.S. central banks are accumulating gold at their fastest rate in almost five decades, diversifying out of U.S. Treasuries.
  
• Safe-haven demand: Rising geopolitical tensions and uncertainty over tariffs during the Trump administration have sent investors toward gold as a hedge.

The outcome? Gold-related ETF inflows have jumped, with the likes of leveraged products such as GDXU taking the lead among momentum-hunting traders.

For perspective, the widely followed VanEck Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: GDX), the sector benchmark, has posted a more modest but still respectable gain this year, underpinned by healthy liquidity and nearly $20 billion in assets under management. Sprott Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: SGDM), meanwhile, reached a 52-week high earlier this week, increasing over 120% from its lows, highlighting just how much the sector has come back. Both funds are up around 105% year-to-date.

However, GDXU is the most unmistakable “high-octane” bet. Its outrageous leverage provides the capability to amplify both the ups and the downs, so it’s more suitable for short-term strategic traders than long-term investors.

Still, with gold prices at fresh records and fundamentals pointing to continued strength in 2026, GDXU's meteoric rise has made it the unlikely star of the ETF universe this year, a rare case where the shine of gold has outpaced even the flashiest tech names.

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Photo: LookerStudio on Shutterstock

Posted In: GDX GDXU SGDM