ARK Funds Add 99,418 Robinhood Shares After Crypto Revenue Falls

Three exchange-traded funds managed by ARK Invest bought 99,418 shares of Robinhood Markets on Wednesday, Oct. 28. The purchases came after the trading platform released third-quarter results showing a steep drop in cryptocurrency revenue, according to TokenPost.

The ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK) bought 69,604 shares. The ARK Next Generation Technology ETF (ARKW) bought 17,699 shares, and the ARK Blockchain & Fintech Innovation ETF (ARKF) bought 12,115. Other outlets valued the combined purchase at roughly $9.1 million. Reports describe it as ARK's largest single-day purchase of Robinhood stock since April 29 and its first since early September.

Robinhood's quarterly report showed a mixed picture. Total net revenue rose 12% from a year earlier to $1.42 billion, which the company described as its highest quarterly revenue ever. Cryptocurrency revenue, however, fell 55% year over year to $120 million. Phemex reported that crypto trading volume on the platform dropped 38% to $50 billion over the same period.

Other parts of the business grew. Event-contract revenue, which comes from prediction markets, reached $173 million, more than six times its level a year earlier. That means event contracts now bring in more revenue than crypto trading at Robinhood. CoinCodex also reported that options revenue was $399 million, up 31%. Robinhood Chief Financial Officer Shiv Verma said customers are trusting the company with more of their assets as it delivers on its product roadmap.

Robinhood's shares fell more than 23% following the results, according to CoinCodex. The ARK purchase also follows a period of selling. Phemex reported that ARK sold about $47.5 million of Robinhood shares between Oct. 6 and Oct. 9, when the stock traded between $107 and $112. The latest purchase therefore reverses some of that earlier selling, although the reports do not say why ARK made either set of trades.

TokenPost noted that the trades were made through ARK-managed ETFs. The disclosures give no reason for the purchases and do not establish that ARK founder Cathie Wood personally placed them. ARK regularly adds to positions in crypto-related stocks after price declines, and daily trade disclosures from its funds are widely followed in the market. A single day's purchase does not show how the funds will position themselves over time, and it says nothing about where the stock or crypto prices will go next.

The results show how exposed retail brokerage platforms are to crypto trading activity. Robinhood has spent recent quarters expanding into prediction markets and options, and its latest numbers show those products offsetting a slowdown in digital-asset trading. The shift matters for investors and industry watchers because crypto trading volume at retail platforms is often treated as a gauge of retail interest in digital assets. CoinCodex noted that the decline in crypto activity raises sustainability questions even as other products grow.

The news arrives during a weak stretch for the broader crypto market. Market commentary from the past day described Bitcoin slipping below $80,000 after the Federal Reserve held rates steady with a hawkish tone. That backdrop may help explain the lower trading activity, though Robinhood has not attributed its results to any single cause in the reports reviewed.

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