Flows in major gold ETFs are an accessible, widely-watched proxy for investor appetite — which is exactly why they can be over-interpreted.
ETF redemptions capture one slice of demand, primarily Western financial investors. They can move in the opposite direction to physical demand elsewhere, so reading them in isolation risks missing where conviction actually sits.
A more complete read pairs fund flows with physical-market indicators. When the two disagree, the disagreement itself is often the more interesting signal.