Happy 20th Birthday, GDX: How it all began

The Coinage Act of 1792 made gold and silver the bedrock of America’s monetary system, a declaration in economic terms that the US would stand behind its currency with something real. For more than a century, that anchor held. The Gold Standard Act of 1900 formalised the arrangement, pegging the dollar to gold at US$20.67/oz.

Gold offered a statement of credibility, a promise that the currency of a self-governing nation couldn’t be printed or legislated out of value. That principle held until the pressures of the 20th century forced a rethinking.

A new era for gold (and VanEck)

In 1968, our founder John C. van Eck saw what was coming. With gold still fixed at US$35/oz under the Bretton Woods system, he launched the first U.S. open-ended gold equity mutual fund, a contrarian move grounded in the conviction that gold’s role in the financial system was about to change dramatically. Three years later, President Nixon proved him right, severing the dollar’s convertibility to gold on August 15, 1971, and ushering in the era of fiat currency.

Rather than diminishing gold’s relevance, this break transformed it. Freed from a fixed price, gold became a market-driven store of value and a hedge against the very monetary expansion that the end of the gold standard made possible.

That moment also set a pattern that continues to define VanEck: identifying long-term shifts early and building investment solutions that help investors navigate them.

From mutual fund to ETF: The birth of GDX

As gold continued to gain prominence as a strategic asset allocation following the end of Bretton Woods, VanEck’s mutual fund became one of the industry’s standout performers of the 1970s. Furthermore, it underscored the idea that gold equities offer investors something unique: exposure to a timeless asset through the dynamic nature of the companies that mine it.

That philosophy is what led to the US-listing of GDX. By the mid-2000s, the ETF revolution was reshaping how investors built portfolios, and we believed gold equity investors deserved a vehicle that matched the speed, transparency and accessibility of the modern market. GDX launched in May 2006 on NYSE, giving investors their first opportunity to access a diversified basket of gold mining companies through a single, exchange-traded ticker.

It also marked the start of VanEck’s broader ETF business. Everything we’ve built since, across digital assets, emerging markets, fixed income, and beyond, traces back to that first gold miners fund. GDX wasn’t just a product launch. It illustrated how we take deep expertise, built over decades, and put it to work for investors by delivering it in a format that meets their evolving needs.

Why GDX still matters at 20

Twenty years on, we believe the case for a gold miners ETF is arguably stronger than when it launched in the US. Central banks around the globe are diversifying reserves away from any single currency. Investors are seeking protection against persistent inflation, elevated government debt, and a geopolitical landscape that grows more fractured with every new headline.

Gold has historically addressed these concerns by enhancing portfolio diversification, serving as an inflation hedge and providing appreciation potential with demonstrated low correlation to traditional asset classes. Gold carries no counterparty risk, no credit risk, and no allegiance to any single government. Gold miners like the companies included in GDX offer something physical gold alone cannot, including operating leverage to the gold price, the potential for dividends and the upside that comes from discovering and developing new deposits, although there are additional risks associated with investing in listed equities.

It’s been twenty years since GDX was born on the NYSE, and gold remains a constant. For investors looking to diversify portfolios with an asset tied to scarcity, resilience and long-term relevance, GDX remains a modern vehicle for a very old idea, and a reflection of VanEck’s commitment to staying ahead in a world that never stands still.

GDX was listed on the ASX on 26 June 2015.

Key risks

An investment in our gold miners ETF carries risks associated with: ASX trading time differences,  financial markets generally, individual company management, industry sectors, foreign currency, country or sector concentration, political, regulatory and tax risks, fund operations and tracking an index. See the VanEck Gold Miners ETF PDS and TMD for more details. 

GDX is likely to be appropriate for a consumer who is seeking capital growth, is intending to use the product as a minor or satellite allocation within a portfolio, has an investment timeframe of at least 5 years, and has a very high risk/return profile.