Robinhood Stock Surges as Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest Doubles Down on Crypto Bet

Robinhood’s stock surged 5.6% on Wednesday and continued climbing in pre-market trading after Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest revealed a major new purchase across two of its flagship funds — signaling renewed confidence in the retail brokerage’s expanding crypto ambitions.

According to Ark’s October 22 trade disclosure, the investment firm scooped up $21.3 million worth of Robinhood (HOOD) shares — including 131,049 shares via the Ark Innovation ETF (ARKK) and 36,440 shares through the Ark Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW). The move pushes Robinhood’s weighting in both ETFs to nearly 19%, making it one of Ark’s largest single holdings.

The bold buy comes as Robinhood transforms from a stock-trading app into a global crypto powerhouse. In 2025 alone, the company acquired WonderFi to expand into Canada and bought Bitstamp, one of the world’s oldest exchanges, to unlock institutional liquidity and global licenses. Robinhood is also building a Layer-2 blockchain on Arbitrum and recently added BNB trading to its platform.

This latest investment fits neatly into Ark Invest’s aggressive crypto strategy, which now spans new Bitcoin ETF filings—including the Bitcoin Yield ETF and ARK DIET Bitcoin 1 & 2 ETFs—designed to provide yield and downside protection for institutional players.

Together with significant positions in Coinbase, Bullish, and BitMine, Ark’s growing exposure to the crypto ecosystem underscores Cathie Wood’s conviction that digital assets and blockchain infrastructure will define the next decade of finance.