ARK Invest, renowned for its involvement in the spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) market, has opted to cash out its shares in Coinbase as the stock price surged above $270.
On March 21, ARK Invest sold a total of 199,526 Coinbase (COIN) shares from its ETFs as the exchange’s stock climbed above $260. The investment firm, spearheaded by Cathie Wood, divested 133,533 COIN shares from the ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK), translating to roughly $35 million based on Coinbase’s closing price of $262 on March 21.
Additionally, ARK offloaded 59,215 shares from the ARK Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW) and 6,778 shares from the ARK Fintech Innovation ETF (ARKF), bringing the total sale to $52.3 million based on the closing price.
The decision by ARK comes as Coinbase’s stock continues its steady ascent, reaching above $270 for the first time since December 2021. On March 21, COIN briefly touched a high of $276, according to TradingView data.
Coinbase shares have surged nearly 250% over the past six months and are up by more than 50% year-to-date (YTD).
ARK’s recent sale of Coinbase shares marks one of the most significant sell-offs in 2024. The previous notable sale occurred on March 11 when the firm offloaded 270,365 Coinbase shares. On February 16, ARK executed its largest Coinbase sale of the year so far, divesting 499,149 COIN shares across its three ETFs, with Coinbase shares trading around $190 at that time.
ARK has been actively reducing its holdings of Coinbase shares since 2023 and early 2024, initially accumulating a substantial number of COIN shares following the stock’s debut in 2021.
In addition to Coinbase, ARK has been trimming its shares of Square (SQ), a Bitcoin-focused fintech company co-founded by Twitter’s Jack Dorsey. On March 21, ARK sold an additional 188,519 Square shares from its ARKK fund, generating $15.8 million in proceeds.
Furthermore, ARK unloaded 93,002 shares of Robinhood (HOOD), valued at approximately $2 million, from the ARKW ETF, to comply with Rule 12d3-1, as the fund’s HOOD holdings approached 5% of the portfolio’s total weight.
Cathie Wood, known for her bullish stance on Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, has been a prominent figure in the crypto space. Wood maintains an optimistic long-term outlook on digital assets like Bitcoin, emphasizing their resilience in market volatility and regulatory uncertainty. In 2020, Wood predicted that Bitcoin would hit $500,000 by 2030, a forecast she reiterated last year.