Gold has been used as a store of value for thousands of years. The precious metal’s intrinsic value is largely tied to its resilience across multiple millennia, but the resource is also valuable for several industries. You’ll find gold in semiconductors, dentistry equipment, automobiles, and other everyday resources.
However, gold doesn’t go up forever. This precious metal has had some downturns, and it took almost a decade to reclaim its highs from September 2011. Investors who believe gold is due for a correction or a crash can position their portfolios to profit from the precious metal’s decline. These are some of the ETFs to monitor if gold crashes.
ProShares UltraShort Gold (GLL)
The ProShares UltraShort Gold (NYSEARCA:GLL) fund gives investors 2x inverse exposure to the Bloomberg Gold Subindex. The Bloomberg index contains gold futures contracts, so any decrease in gold’s price will hurt the index. However, those same increases will give the ProShare UltraShort Gold fund a boost.
The fund hasn’t been a good hold for now. It’s down by more than 30% year-to-date due to gold’s rally. However, any correction in gold will suddenly make this fund more favorable. It’s also worth noting that GLL has a 0.95% expense ratio and no yield. GLL is a relatively small ETF with a little less than $80 million in assets.
Leveraged ETFs are riskier due to their ability to multiply your gains and losses. Funds like GLL are more suitable for short-term investment to capitalize on key events and technical indicators.
MicroSectors Gold Miners 3X Inverse Leveraged ETN (GDXD)
The MicroSectors Gold Miners 3X Inverse Leveraged ETN (NYSEARCA:GDXD) is another fund that lets investors profit from declining gold prices. The stock has had a miserable 2025 due to gold’s rally and is down by almost 80% year-to-date. However, this sharp decline demonstrates how quickly its fortunes can reverse if gold suddenly drops.
GDXD has a 0.95% expense ratio and doesn’t offer a yield. The fund shorts two ETFs: the VanEck Gold Miners ETF (NYSEARCA:GDX) and the VanEck Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSEARCA:GDXJ). It shorts GDX shares more heavily than GDXJ shares.
Gold mining stocks can experience downturns sharper than gold if the underlying companies report low financial growth rates or incur big losses. These ETFs can move in a different direction than gold due to their financial risk.
DB Gold Short Exchange Traded Notes (DGZ)
The DB Gold Short Exchange Traded Notes (NYSEARCA:DGZ) fund gives investors exposure to monthly inverse exposure to the performance of a single unfunded gold futures contract. It benefits from any declines in the price of gold, but it doesn’t use the type of leverage we have seen with GLL or GDXD.
The fund is only down by about 17% year-to-date. That’s still not good, but that’s a better performance than the other two ETFs on the list. It goes to further demonstrate how quickly the results can change when gold goes through a correction or a crash.
DGZ is a small fund with only $2.2 million in assets and a 0.75% expense ratio. It does not offer a yield.
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