Cathie Wood Continues to Buy the Dip on Crypto. Here Are 3 Crypto Investments That Need to Be on Your Radar.

Cathie Wood's Ark Invest has been studiously buying the dip with companies that touch crypto, gobbling up millions of dollars worth of Circle Internet Group (CRCL -3.32%), Coinbase Global (COIN -2.36%), and Robinhood Markets (HOOD -1.76%). As of Sept. 8, those three were weighted in Wood's ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK -1.77%) at 6%, 4.6%, and 4.3%, respectively, of a $6.5 billion fund.

Because these three make up such a large share of her portfolio, investors should have them on their radar, even if they might not be the right kind of investment for them to buy right now.

1. Circle is a bet on interest rates and stablecoins

Circle issues USDC, the second-largest stablecoin by market cap, with $74 billion in circulation.

Critically, USDC is backed by reserves of short-term Treasury bills and other interest-bearing cash equivalent assets. As the issuer, Circle captures the interest payments earned from those reserves. In Q2, its reserve income was $668 million, with an average reserve return of 3.5%.

That yield isn't something written in stone. The Federal Reserve's rate decisions determine short-term yields; cuts to the Fed's benchmark rate shrink Circle's reserve income, while hikes increase it.

Cathie Wood is buying the stock anyway. Her fund invested $16.3 million in Circle on March 24, even as it fell, with another purchase of $13.9 million in mid-July, and yet another $3.4 million invested on Aug. 31.

2. Coinbase is working to diversify

Today, Coinbase operates the largest U.S. crypto exchange, but it aspires to do more than connect investors to spot purchasing.

Its subscription and services revenue reached $555 million in the second quarter of this year, and 88% of its net revenue came from something other than Bitcoin spot trading. A big slice of its revenue now is interest payments on the USDC that's parked at Coinbase by its users. It also now has a platform for trading financial derivatives, like perpetual futures contracts, which could help boost its top line.

Ark Invest bought about $8 million of Coinbase shares on Aug. 2, right after a disappointing quarter sent the price lower, and then bought more again on Aug. 6. The company will not have the crypto market to itself, but its large user base and favorable positioning with regulators will make it a core part of the industry in the U.S. for the foreseeable future.

3. Robinhood now counts as a crypto investment

Robinhood is once again expanding into crypto with its launch of a new blockchain in July, though it's still a tertiary line of business for the company.

In Q2, the online brokerage platform reported record revenue of $1.3 billion, up 32% from a year prior, though its crypto revenue fell by 38% to $100 million. The transaction fees its new chain is bringing in could help its crypto segment grow a bit more. In August, users paid $6.6 million in chain fees for transacting on the network, up from $3.6 million the prior month.

But Robinhood has covered the transactions costs made in its own wallet since launch, and that 90-day subsidy expires Sept. 29. It remains to be seen how the chain performs once that subsidy ends; it could see a moderate drop in activity, reducing the fees it harvests.

Cathie Wood had cut Ark's stake in Robinhood in July 2026, then, on Sept. 3, she bought a bit more, perhaps as a result of the rapid success of the Robinhood Chain.

Assuming Robinhood can build out its blockchain with the lessons it learned from building its highly successful retail investing platform, the stock could do quite well from here.