The 50 best-performing ETFs are shown in Table 1. Though this list is more concentrated than 2024’s list, commodity-focused, equity precious metals and miscellaneous region ETFs represent the majority. Fourteen of the top-performing ETFs belong to the commodity-focused category. The table also features 10 equity precious metals ETFs and 11 miscellaneous region ETFs. Eight of the 10 equity precious metals funds appear among the 10 top-performing ETFs.

A confluence of economic uncertainty, geopolitical tension and a weaker U.S. dollar boosted gold and silver as safe havens and hedges. Silver and platinum also benefited from strong industrial demand and constrained supply, with silver further supported by tighter export controls from China.

Grayscale Zcash Trust ETF (ZCSH) was the top performer, amassing a 782.8% return. Zcash is a privacy-focused cryptocurrency that permits users to choose encrypted (“shielded”) transactions, hiding the sender, recipient and transaction amount. In 2025, demand for privacy in cryptocurrency took the spotlight, as investors and users reacted to rising surveillance concerns, regulatory uncertainty and a renewed desire for financial autonomy. The passively managed Grayscale Zcash Trust was launched in 2017 and seeks to provide investors with a cost-effective and convenient way to invest in Zcash tokens while avoiding the complication of directly holding the cryptocurrency. Its total risk index of 21.20 is the highest in Table 1 and implies that the fund has been over 21 times more volatile than the average ETF.

With gold glittering, WisdomTree Efficient Gold Plus Gold Miners Strategy ETF (GDMN) took the second-best performer spot. The actively managed multiasset leveraged ETF returned 239.2% for 2025. The third-best performer, focused on precious metals, was iShares MSCI Global Silver & Metals Miners ETF (SLVP), which utilizes a passive management style.

Download the Excel spreadsheet of Table 1.

Investors sought sources of return that were less correlated and had more attractive valuations, turning to nontraditional regional ETFs that offered exposure to little-followed parts of the global market. A weaker U.S. dollar and, in some instances, highly sought-after commodities further boosted returns.

You will notice two YieldMax ETFs in Table 1. YieldMax ETFs generate monthly income by pursuing options-based strategies built on the appreciation of a single stock or another ETF. These ETFs do not invest directly in the underlying stocks or ETF. Monthly income is created from options premiums.

The majority of the equity precious metals ETFs in the top 10 list are focused on gold mining and have been roughly three times more volatile than the average ETF per their total risk index values. A key risk of gold mining is that operational challenges or political changes in mining regions can disrupt production and sharply impact profitability.