ETF Inflows & Outflows
Performance Leaders & Laggards
Source: ETF Action; flows and performance data as of 7/16/26; performance data excludes leveraged and inverse products
Weekly ETF Reads
The 179 ETFs That Own SpaceX by Zachary Evens
“SpaceX is now the cornerstone of a few ETF portfolios and a satellite position in many others.”
‘A casino for investors’: leverage brings huge swings to world’s best-performing market by Song Jung-a
“Regulators blame the single-stock ETFs’ short gamma dynamics for the volatility.”
The House Always Wins. Event Contract ETFs Gamble on Longer Odds by Quinn Waller
“If I go to Vegas, I don’t want to give you my money to go play blackjack or roulette. It feels like they’re outsourcing all the fun.”
BlackRock’s T-Bill ETF Rides Cash Boom Toward $100 Billion Mark by Ye Xie
“Since its May 2020 launch, the BlackRock fund has grown more quickly than any other bond ETF.”
Trump Accounts Bring Windfall for Babies — and Also This One Fund by Joel Weber
“State Street secured one of the biggest distribution victories in ETF history, potentially winning an entire generation of investors.”
Merrill to levy support fees on active ETFs amid rev-share expansion by Tania Mitra and Alex Steger
“This suggests platforms are now figuring out how to monetize the growth of ETFs at the expense of mutual funds.”
How Bitcoin ETFs Changed Institutional Adoption by The Block Research
“As of the first quarter of 2026, more than 2,000 institutions reported bitcoin holdings.”
ETF Post of the Week
Last week, over 30 firms – including JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, BlackRock, and Vanguard – took part in a trial run with the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) to tokenize securities. That included tokenizing ETFs such as the Invesco QQQ ETF (QQQ) and the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY).
For example, JPMorgan tokenized a portion of its QQQ holdings held at the DTCC, with the option to convert them back into traditional shares. Importantly, the tokenized shares have all the same legal protections and rights (including dividends and voting rights) as traditional shares. DTCC refers to tokenized shares as the “digital twins” of traditional shares.
This is yet another step on the path toward a tokenized future, where investors could benefit from faster settlement, 24/7 trading, fractional ownership, lower costs, and real-time collateral mobility.
DTCC plans to formally launch its Tokenization Service in October.
.@jpmorgan successfully completed an equity token conversion involving the @InvescoUS QQQ Trust (QQQ), offering a practical example of tokenization at work within trusted market infrastructure.
— DTCC (@The_DTCC) July 15, 2026
Learn more: https://t.co/XDeUkl4aNJ pic.twitter.com/UzmeR3XIaR
ETF Chart of the Week
While not a chart, I thought this compilation of ads, courtesy of chart master Todd Sohn of Strategas, was fitting for the current environment. Only weeks after a parade of leveraged and inverse SpaceX ETFs launched, issuers rushed to capitalize on Korean chipmaker SK Hynix’s Nasdaq debut via American depositary receipts (ADRs). The very next business day, just as they did following the SpaceX IPO, issuers were tripping over themselves to launch leveraged and inverse products tied to a company at the heart of the AI infrastructure boom.
Will Rhind, Founder and CEO of GraniteShares, whose 2x Long SK Hynix Daily ETF (SKUU) already has nearly $100 million in assets:
“SK Hynix sits at the center of the AI hardware supply chain, and its Nasdaq listing is one of the most significant market events of the year. SKUU and SKDD give active traders precision tools to trade both sides of SKHY’s daily performance from day one.”
One of the most significant market events of the year until the next hot stock debuts… OpenAI?
Source: Strategas’ Todd Sohn
ETF Prime Podcast
Last week’s ETF Prime featured Todd Rosenbluth, Head of Research at VettaFi, and Brian Walsh, Head of Advice & Planning at SoFi. Todd covered a broad range of ETF topics, including inflows that have already surpassed $1 trillion this year, growing competition in the Nasdaq-100 ETF category, and the debut of the Defiance KSM TipRanks Analyst ETF (RANK). Brian discussed the firm’s new SoFi Social 50 Income ETF (SFYI), explained SoFi’s broader ETF strategy, and shared insights into the investment trends shaping activity across its platform.
