Gen Z is taking a different approach to investing, with younger investors trading less frequently than older generations and showing a growing preference for exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
According to Binance Research, traders on the platform are directing a growing share of their equity activity toward exchange-traded funds, with ETFs accounting for 25% of the cohort’s trading volume in early August.
The trend highlights a shift toward more passive and diversified investment strategies among younger investors as they navigate an evolving financial landscape.
The products also captured 21.9% of Gen Z net equity inflows in July, up from 18.5% in June, while the share allocated to individual stocks declined to 74.2% from 77%.
The analysis reviewed activity across direct equities, tokenized stocks (bStocks), and traditional finance perpetuals, comparing Gen Z accounts with those of Millennials, Gen X, and Baby Boomers on trading frequency, net flows, and leverage use.
Across all three product categories, the younger cohort traded less often than other working-age generations. Gen Z averaged 13 monthly trades in TradFi perpetuals, compared with 17 for Millennials and 16.5 for Gen X.
A notable share of Gen Z accounts showed a clear buy-and-hold pattern. Among direct-equity accounts, 22% had never placed a sell order, higher than the 19% recorded for Gen X and 9% for Baby Boomers.
Millennials led with the highest share of buy-only accounts at 30%. In Gen Z buy-only accounts, the top assets by cumulative purchases included Broadcom, Tesla, and the Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF. Data also indicated that a majority of Gen Z accounts were net buyers across the products examined.
Also, Gen Z displayed limited interest in higher-risk products. Some 88.2% of Gen Z TradFi perpetual accounts recorded no activity in leveraged or inverse ETFs, compared with 84.5% of Millennials and 85.9% of Gen X. Parallel figures for bStocks accounts showed even lower engagement with these instruments.
These figures suggest that Gen Z is not simply entering financial markets in large numbers, it is also showing a preference for accessible, diversified, and digitally delivered investment products, while trading less frequently and using leveraged products less heavily than older cohorts
The report comes as U.S.-listed exchange-traded funds have attracted more than $100 billion in net inflows every month for 14 consecutive months, a streak that Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas described as nearly unthinkable only a few years ago.
“The $100B month is becoming the new normal,” Balchunas noted, highlighting data that shows such massive monthly inflows occurred just once prior to the current run that began roughly two-and-a-half years earlier.
The shift is captured clearly in Bloomberg Intelligence charts tracking monthly ETF flows. What was once a rare outlier has turned into a consistent pattern, with blue markers denoting $100 billion-plus months appearing regularly from 2024 through mid-2026.
Total U.S. ETF assets have climbed to record levels near $14–15 trillion, while global ETF assets surpassed $23 trillion earlier in the year after strong net inflows.
Equity products, particularly those focused on U.S. large-cap stocks, have driven the bulk of the capital, though fixed-income ETFs have also contributed steady demand.
The industry recorded roughly $1.5 trillion in net inflows for full-year 2025 and more than $1 trillion in the first half of 2026 alone the strongest first-half performance on record.
Outlook
Gen Z’s investment behavior points toward a continued shift from short-term speculation to longer-term, diversified exposure to financial markets.
As ETFs become more accessible through digital investment platforms, their combination of diversification, liquidity, and relatively lower transaction costs could make them increasingly attractive to younger investors seeking to build wealth gradually.
The growing popularity of ETFs could also reshape how Gen Z participates in both traditional and digital markets. Rather than concentrating entirely on individual stocks or highly leveraged products, younger investors may increasingly use ETFs as a core component of their portfolios while maintaining exposure to individual companies and emerging asset classes.
The trend could strengthen further as the ETF market continues to expand and new products provide exposure to sectors, themes, cryptocurrencies, tokenized assets, and international markets.
However, the shift toward ETFs does not necessarily mean Gen Z is abandoning higher-risk assets. Instead, the data suggests that younger investors may be becoming more selective about how they take risk, using diversified products for core exposure while allocating smaller portions of their portfolios to individual stocks, crypto, and leveraged instruments.






