Robinhood’s commission-free model offers easy, low-cost access to stocks and options. But what about gold, the precious metal that gained more than 65% in 2025? The answer is more complicated than you might expect. You can’t buy physical gold on Robinhood — though you can purchase other assets that provide exposure to gold’s pricing.
Robinhood supports purchases of gold ETFs, mining stocks, and options. If you have access to Robinhood Futures, you can also buy gold futures contracts. All these asset types tend to rise and fall with the gold price, but each has its own risks and nuances. Choosing the right one for you begins with assessing your risk tolerance.
Read more: How to invest in gold in 7 steps
Gold is inherently risky. Review its long-term history, and you’ll see long periods of stagnation, broken up by huge, but rocky value spikes. Some asset types available on Robinhood provide straightforward exposure to this volatility, while others magnify gold’s gains and losses. Here are your choices, ordered from lowest to highest risk:
Gold ETFs backed by physical gold are among your lowest-risk choices for gold exposure on Robinhood. These funds rise and fall with gold prices. You do pay an administrative fee to the fund, but you won’t have to store gold bars at home.
Options-based gold ETFs use covered calls to generate income on gold exposure. These funds can have limited upside in gold rallies.
Gold mining stocks often move with gold prices, but in an exaggerated way due to operational leverage. When you invest in gold mining stocks, you accept company-specific risks plus the inherent volatility of gold prices.
Gold futures contracts are agreements to buy or sell gold in the future at a specific price. You provide a small deposit on the contract and are bound to complete a much larger transaction later. If your gold price prediction is inaccurate, you can lose more than your initial deposit. To trade futures on Robinhood, you must apply for a futures account. Also, Robinhood does charge a commission on futures trades.
Gold options give you the right to buy or sell gold at a set price before a specific date. When you buy options, you can lose your entire investment. When you sell options, your loss potential is large to unlimited.
Your risk tolerance can guide you to the right asset type. Most traders will start with gold ETFs because they are the simplest. Gold options only make sense if you are an experienced, risk-hungry investor with deep expertise in precious metals.
Read more: How high will gold go this year? Top 3 predictions about gold prices.
Having a defined investing goal helps you make strategic decisions about how much to invest in gold on Robinhood, how often to trade, or when to buy and sell. For example, when you’re diversifying long-term savings, you might set up recurring buys for a set amount. But when you’re pursuing short-term profits, your trade timing and…
Source: finance.yahoo.com
