Money is used to transact, it doesn't "sit" in ETFs. e.g. if I buy a share from you that money goes from person A (the buyer) to person B (the seller), it doesn

Money is used to transact, it doesn't "sit" in ETFs. e.g. if I buy a share from you that money goes from person A (the buyer) to person B (the seller), it doesn't "sit" in the stock. Now ETFs can hold some cash, but in general they're invested almost wholly in their target asset, so they hold the assets instead of cash. You seem to be mistaking market value for money