ARK Invest, a firm aspiring to launch a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in 2024, has been capitalizing on the profits from its substantial holdings in Coinbase stock.
On December 5, ARK divested a significant portion of its Coinbase shares across three of its funds, as reported by a trade notification obtained by Cointelegraph. This sell-off occurred on the same day Coinbase’s stock price closed at $140 per share, resulting in a minimum gain of $33 million.
The largest portion of the sale involved 201,711 shares from the ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK), complemented by sales of 28,535 and 7,326 shares from the ARK Fintech Innovation ETF (ARKF) and the ARK Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW), respectively.
Coinbase’s stock has been experiencing a notable upswing, aligning with the overall bullish trend in the crypto market. It has surged by 280% year to date (YTD), as per TradingView data. The stock’s rally gained further momentum following the guilty plea of Binance and its former CEO Changpeng Zhao to charges of money laundering and sanctions violations in the U.S. in November.
On December 5, Coinbase’s stock reached a new 52-week high, surpassing $147.4, a level last seen in April 2022. Over the past 30 days, the stock has risen by nearly 70%, according to TradingView.
ARK’s recent divestment of Coinbase shares is one of its most significant in 2023, following only behind the 478,356 shares sold on July 14 and the 248,838 shares sold on July 17, when Coinbase’s stock was around $105.
In addition to offloading Coinbase shares, ARK has also sold 168,127 shares of Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust (GBTC). This sale, based on a closing price of $35, brought in approximately $5.9 million, as per TradingView. ARK began selling GBTC shares on October 23, 2023, during a period when Bitcoin was approaching $34,000.
Despite these recent sales, ARK maintains a substantial investment in Coinbase. As of December 5, Coinbase is the largest holding in the ARKF ETF portfolio, representing over 13% of its net assets, valued at nearly $135 million.
Coinbase also constitutes significant portions of the ARKW ETF and the ARKK ETF, accounting for 11.72% and 11.64% of their respective portfolios, making it the largest asset in both.
While ARK has been reducing its position in Coinbase, the firm continues to invest in other crypto-related stocks, including Robinhood. ARK has also maintained its investment in SoFi Technologies, even after the company announced it would cease its crypto trading services.
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