The evidence strongly supports the truthfulness of the statement. There is direct corroboration from a bullion dealer's blog, which states that annual inflows for 2025 were a record-breaking "$89 billion," a figure nearly identical to the claim's "$88.6 billion." The minor discrepancy is likely attributable to rounding or slight variations in data aggregation.This direct evidence is substantially reinforced by high-authority sources. A Reuters article from January 2026 confirms massive inflows for the previous year (2025), quantifying them at 801 metric tons. While not a dollar figure, this tonnage represents a huge volume of investment and aligns with the narrative of a record year. Furthermore, an investment insights article from J.P. Morgan Private Bank is noted to explicitly analyze and chart gold ETF flows for 2025, indicating that such a significant figure was a key data point for major financial institutions.Finally, there is no conflicting evidence among the provided sources. All relevant information points towards 2025 being an exceptionally strong year for gold ETF investment. The combination of direct numerical support (albeit from a lower-authority source) and strong thematic and contextual corroboration from highly credible sources like Reuters and J.P. Morgan makes the statement very likely to be true.