Precious Metals
| Commodity | Best Choice | Why This One | Notable Alternative |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gold | GLDM (SPDR Gold MiniShares) |
Physically backed, among the lowest fees (0.10%); efficient core holding. | GLD for max intraday liquidity; IAU as a larger low-cost holding (0.25%). |
| Silver | SIVR (abrdn Physical Silver) |
Physically backed, lower fee (0.30%) than SLV for long holds. | SLV if you need top liquidity. |
| Platinum | PPLT (abrdn Physical Platinum) |
Physically backed exposure to spot platinum; established vehicle. | — |
| Palladium | PALL (abrdn Physical Palladium) |
Physically backed exposure to spot palladium. | — |
Energy
Why XLE Wins Over USO| Commodity | Best Choice | Why This One | Notable Alternative |
|---|---|---|---|
| WTI Crude Oil | USO (United States Oil Fund) |
Deepest liquidity among U.S. crude ETPs; broad market access; fee ~0.70%. (Futures-based; mind roll yield.) | DBO (roll-optimized) or PDBC (diversified, no K-1). |
| Brent Crude Oil | BNO (United States Brent Oil Fund) |
Direct Brent futures exposure; straightforward benchmark. (Futures-based.) | — |
| Natural Gas | UNG (U.S. Natural Gas Fund) |
Most liquid U.S. nat-gas ETP; transparent roll; mgmt fee 0.60% up to $1B AUM. (Futures-based; roll/volatility heavy.) | — |
| Gasoline (RBOB) | UGA (U.S. Gasoline Fund) |
Direct RBOB futures exposure; primary U.S. vehicle. (Futures-based; higher fee, but unique access.) | — |
| Heating Oil/Diesel | UHN (U.S. Diesel-Heating Oil Fund) |
Direct heating-oil futures exposure; niche but liquid enough for tactical use. | — |
| Energy basket | DBE (Invesco DB Energy) |
Diversified energy futures basket; roll-optimized methodology vs. straight front-month. |
Industrial & Battery Metals
| Commodity | Best Choice | Why This One | Notable Alternative |
|---|---|---|---|
| Copper | CPER (U.S. Copper Index Fund) |
U.S. futures-based copper exposure with decent liquidity; straightforward index. (K-1.) | DBB for a base-metals basket; miners ETFs (e.g., COPX) if you want equity beta. |
| Aluminum | ALUM (USCF Aluminum Strategy ETF) |
Newer 1940-Act ETF targeting aluminum futures; lower fee (0.65%) than FOIL. | FOIL (USCF Aluminum); launched 2023. |
| Nickel | — | No active U.S. single-commodity ETF/ETN with robust creation/redemption. Barclays JJN was redeemed in 2023. Consider diversified industrial-metals baskets or futures. | |
| Zinc / Lead / Tin | — | No active U.S. ETF/ETN: legacy iPath ETNs (JJZ, LD, JJT) were called in 2023; use broad industrial-metals baskets (e.g., BCIM) or futures. | |
| Uranium (note: not a "spot" ETF in U.S.) |
URNM (Sprott Uranium Miners) |
Best-known, liquid equity proxy for uranium; includes a sleeve in physical U₃O₈ via SPUT. For spot exposure, consider Sprott Physical Uranium Trust (TSX) if accessible. |
Agriculture (Grains & Softs)
| Commodity | Best Choice | Why This One | Notable Alternative |
|---|---|---|---|
| Corn | CORN (Teucrium Corn) |
Direct corn futures basket (rules-based across maturities); net expense 0.94%; avoids single-month roll spikes. | |
| Wheat | WEAT (Teucrium Wheat) |
Direct wheat futures exposure; net expense 0.83%. | |
| Soybeans | SOYB (Teucrium Soybean) |
Direct soybean futures; net expense 0.83%. | |
| Sugar | CANE (Teucrium Sugar) |
ETF (not ETN) with sugar futures exposure; net expense 0.93%; robust creation. | |
| Coffee | — | No active U.S. coffee ETF/ETN now: Barclays JO was redeemed June 14, 2023. Use broad ag baskets (e.g., DBA) or ICE futures if you need purity. (European investors often use WisdomTree Coffee ETC.) | |
| Cocoa | — | No active U.S. cocoa ETF/ETN: Barclays NIB was redeemed June 14, 2023. Consider broad ag baskets or ICE cocoa futures. | |
| Cotton | — | No active U.S. cotton ETF/ETN after BAL redemption (June 2023). Consider baskets (DBA) or futures. | |
| Livestock (cattle/hogs) | — | No active U.S. livestock ETN after COW redemption (June 2023). Use futures or diversified ag funds. | |
| Broad agriculture | DBA (Invesco DB Agriculture) |
Diversified, liquid agriculture basket; useful when single-commodity vehicles don't exist. |
Broad Commodity Baskets
Useful core exposure if you don't want to pick individual commodities:
- PDBC (Invesco Optimum Yield Diversified Commodity Strategy, no K-1) — roll-optimized diversified futures basket; popular for core exposure.
- DBC (Invesco DB Commodity Index Tracking) — long-standing diversified basket; higher K-1 burden historically.
- BCI (abrdn Bloomberg All Commodity, K-1-free) — broad, rules-driven, "K-1-free" structure.
Cryptocurrencies
Spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs launched in 2024, offering regulated exposure without direct custody. Equity-based crypto funds track mining/blockchain companies.
| Cryptocurrency | Best Choice | Why This One | Notable Alternative |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bitcoin (Spot) | IBIT (iShares Bitcoin Trust) |
BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF; largest AUM, tightest spreads, 0.25% fee; direct spot BTC custody via Coinbase. | FBTC (Fidelity Wise Origin, 0.25%); BITB (Bitwise, 0.20%) |
| Ethereum (Spot) | ETHA (iShares Ethereum Trust) |
BlackRock's Ethereum ETF; launched July 2024, 0.25% fee; spot ETH custody. | FETH (Fidelity Ethereum, 0.25%); ETHW (Bitwise, 0.20%) |
| Bitcoin Futures (pre-2024 legacy option) |
BITO (ProShares Bitcoin Strategy) |
First U.S. Bitcoin futures ETF (Oct 2021); uses CME futures, not spot; 0.95% fee + roll costs. Now mostly superseded by spot ETFs. | |
| Crypto Equities (miners/blockchain) | BITQ (Bitwise Crypto Industry Innovators) |
Equity exposure to crypto-related companies (miners, exchanges, blockchain tech); 0.85% fee. | BLOK (Amplify Transformational Data Sharing, 0.71%) |
| Diversified Crypto Basket | — | No multi-crypto spot ETF yet approved in U.S. (as of early 2025). Spot ETFs limited to single assets (BTC, ETH). Consider holding multiple single-asset ETFs or using offshore products if accessible. |
⚠️ Crypto ETF Considerations
- Spot vs. Futures: Spot ETFs (IBIT, ETHA) hold actual crypto; futures ETFs (BITO) use derivatives and incur roll costs—spot is generally preferred for long-term holds.
- Custody risk: Even spot ETFs rely on third-party custodians (typically Coinbase); consider counterparty risk vs. self-custody wallets.
- Tax treatment: ETFs receive 1099s (capital gains); held >1 year = long-term rates. No "wash sale" rule for crypto yet (as of 2024), but may change.
- Volatility: Crypto is dramatically more volatile than traditional commodities; position-size accordingly.
A Few Fast Rules of Thumb (So You Pick the Right Wrapper)
- Prefer physically backed (gold/silver/platinum/palladium) for long holds; they avoid futures' roll costs.
- Futures-based ETPs (oil/gas/ag/base metals) can deviate from spot due to contango/backwardation—great for trading trends, less ideal for buy-and-forget.
- ETNs carry issuer credit risk and many U.S. single-commodity ETNs were redeemed in June 2023 (coffee, cocoa, cotton, sugar, livestock, nickel, etc.)—hence the gaps above.