Nikolas Sargeant
ARK Invest, the investment firm led by Bitcoin bull Cathie Wood, acquired a significant batch of cryptocurrency-linked stocks on Wednesday as Bitcoin briefly dipped below $66,000, adding to positions in Robinhood, Bullish, and Circle while spot Bitcoin ETFs experienced substantial outflows.
ARK purchased 433,806 shares of Robinhood (HOOD) for approximately $33.8 million, according to a trade notification reviewed by Cointelegraph. The asset manager also increased exposure to cryptocurrency exchange Bullish (BLSH) and USDC issuer Circle (CRCL), acquiring 364,134 shares valued at $11.6 million and 75,559 shares worth $4.4 million, respectively.
The purchases occurred as all three stocks traded lower, with Robinhood shares declining nearly 9% according to TradingView data. ARK refrained from adding Coinbase (COIN) shares after selling approximately $17 million of the stock last week, suggesting selective positioning within the cryptocurrency exchange sector.
ARK's latest Robinhood acquisition coincided with the company's official testnet launch of Robinhood Chain, a permissionless layer-2 blockchain built for financial services and tokenized real-world assets. The timing reflects ARK's confidence in Robinhood's blockchain infrastructure expansion despite near-term stock price weakness.
Earlier this week, Robinhood reported record net revenue of nearly $1.28 billion for the fourth quarter of 2025. While revenue surged 27% year over year, it fell short of Wall Street expectations of $1.34 billion, sending the stock down approximately 8%. The revenue miss prompted analyst downgrades despite strong user growth and cryptocurrency trading volumes.
As of February 11, Robinhood stands as the largest crypto-linked position in ARK's flagship ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK), accounting for roughly 4.1% of the portfolio or approximately $248 million according to fund data. The concentration reflects Wood's conviction in Robinhood's positioning within cryptocurrency markets and financial technology.
Broader market weakness has affected US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds, which failed to sustain momentum following a three-day inflow streak. According to SoSoValue data, Bitcoin ETFs recorded $276.3 million in net outflows on Wednesday, nearly erasing weekly gains, which now total just $35.3 million. Total assets under management declined to $85.7 billion, the lowest level since early November 2024.
Ether ETFs also posted losses, with daily outflows totaling $129.2 million. XRP funds saw no inflows, while Solana ETFs recorded modest inflows of approximately $0.5 million. The divergent flows suggest selective investor interest across cryptocurrency ETF products rather than broad-based capital allocation.
At the time of publication, Bitcoin was trading at $67,227, up 0.4% over the past 24 hours according to CoinGecko. The latest pullback follows analysts pointing to a potential inflection point in cryptocurrency investment products after three consecutive weeks of outflows totaling more than $3 billion.
ARK's contrarian buying during market weakness reflects Wood's established strategy of accumulating cryptocurrency-related assets during price declines. The firm has historically increased exposure to Bitcoin mining stocks, exchanges, and blockchain infrastructure companies during market corrections.
