Trading Gold and Silver at Robinhood
Whether you want a hedge against inflation, an alternative asset to balance your portfolio, or a way to get exposure to the commodities market, investing in gold and silver can help meet that goal. Here are the main ways to invest in gold and silver if you have a brokerage account with Robinhood.
Silver and Gold ETFs on Robinhood
The first way to invest in gold or silver on Robinhood is through ETFs. There are many different
types of ETFs that can give you exposure to gold or silver. Some
ETFs hold physical gold or silver, some focus on companies involved in the gold
and silver business, and some use gold or silver derivatives.
Two examples of the best-known gold and silver ETFs are GLD and SLV. They both work in a
similar way and have similar investment goals of giving investors a close way
to follow gold or silver prices. They are designed to track the respective precious metal’s
price through bullion-backed trust structures.
An example of an ETF that focuses on companies in the precious-metals business is
symbol GOAU. This ETF holds companies involved in mining, production, and royalty or streaming
activity tied to precious metals. An ETF like this is a good way to get diversified
exposure to the broader precious-metals industry and not just to bullion itself.
ETFs that use gold or silver derivatives can be extremely complex and very risky for the average
investor and even for experienced investors. These ETFs use financial instruments such as options,
swaps, and futures in order to achieve their investment objectives.
An important note about these funds is that some of them may be intended to be held for only a day
at a time.
An example of an ETF that uses silver derivatives is ProShares UltraShort Silver, which trades under
the symbol ZSL. This fund essentially tries to deliver 2x the inverse of silver’s daily move. So, if
silver goes up 3% then this fund could fall about 6% that day. These types of ETFs are probably
not appropriate for most investors, and if you are considering one, you should be very
careful to do your due diligence.
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Gold Stocks on Robinhood
The second way to invest in gold or silver on Robinhood is through companies that operate in the
gold and silver industries. There are lots of different parts of the gold and silver industries,
so you have many choices for investing in these businesses.
Some examples are companies involved in the exploration of gold or silver, the mining of gold or
silver, the production of gold or silver, the selling of gold or silver products, the refining of
gold or silver, or the purchasing of mining streams or royalties.
An example of one of the largest gold mining companies in the world is Barrick Mining, symbol B.
Another example of a major gold producer is Newmont
Corporation, symbol NEM. Investing in a gold or silver company may produce either good or bad
returns in the long run based not only on the prices of gold or silver but also on the performance
of the company itself.
Even if gold or silver is moving sharply higher, you may not see a huge, or any, related impact right away on
the price of the company’s stock because the company may be struggling financially and just
announced weak future earnings estimates, for example. Always consider researching the company
itself to analyze whether or not you will be accomplishing your goal of investing in gold or
silver through the company.
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You should keep in mind that no matter what type of gold or silver ETF or company that you invest
in, you will usually be buying a security in your brokerage account rather than buying coins or bars
directly yourself.
You should research each investment in order to
figure out the correlation level between the actual prices of gold or silver compared to the price
of the ETF or company you are investing in. In other words, if your goal is to make money as soon
as possible when silver goes up, then investing in an ETF like SLV may make more sense than
investing in a silver mining company.
The good news is that whatever investment you end up going with, Robinhood offers commission-free
trades for stocks and ETFs, although regulatory and other fees can still apply, so you can always change your investment if you find one
gold or silver investment that works better for you.
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Updated on 4/15/2026.
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