ARK Invest Sells Coinbase Shares as Stock Price Surges
ARK Invest, one of the companies that filed an application for a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), is once again taking profits on its Coinbase shares as the stock price continues to surge. On November 27, ARK sold 43,956 Coinbase shares from its ARK Fintech Innovation ETF, with the transaction valued at $5.3 million.
Over the past year, Coinbase stock has seen a significant increase, with a surge of 168%. Since January 2023, the stock has risen over 220%. However, it is still down about 70% from its all-time high in September 2021.
ARK has been actively selling Coinbase stocks throughout the year. In October, Cathie Wood’s investment firm offloaded 63,675 Coinbase shares totaling $5.1 million. In July, ARK sold over $103 million in Coinbase shares when the stock was trading at around $90.
In addition to selling Coinbase shares, ARK has also been selling off Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) stock. On November 24, the ARK Next Generation Internet ETF dumped 94,624 GBTC shares for roughly $3 million after selling nearly 700,000 GBTC shares in one month.
However, according to Bloomberg’s ETF analyst Eric Balchunas, ARK’s sales of GBTC are not an indication that the firm is bearish on Bitcoin or making room for its upcoming spot Bitcoin ETF. Balchunas stated that ARK’s selling is likely to maintain desired weightings, as the firm needs to sell shares to keep a 9% weighting in the face of GBTC’s recent surge.
While selling Coinbase and GBTC, ARK has been acquiring other crypto-related stocks. On November 27, ARK Fintech Innovation ETF acquired 252,421 shares of the crypto-friendly banking app SoFi. Year to date, ARK has bought a total of 1.6 million SoFi shares worth $11 million. Additionally, ARK has been accumulating shares of the crypto-friendly investment app Robinhood, purchasing $1.1 million worth of the stock on November 8.
As ARK continues to navigate the cryptocurrency market, its buying and selling activities reflect its strategy of maintaining desired weightings and capitalizing on market opportunities.
