ARK Invest, the company behind a filed application for a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), has sold a significant number of Coinbase shares as the stock price continues to rise. The firm sold 43,956 Coinbase shares from its ARK Fintech Innovation ETF (ARKF) on November 27th, generating a value of $5.3 million. This move comes as Coinbase's stock reaches an 18-month high following legal troubles for rival exchange Binance. Despite the recent surge, Coinbase stock is still down about 70% from its all-time high in September 2021.
Repeated Sales of Coinbase and Grayscale Bitcoin Trust
This is not the first time that ARK has sold Coinbase shares in 2023. In October, Cathie Wood's investment firm offloaded 63,675 COIN shares from its ARK Next Generation Internet ETF, totaling $5.1 million. The firm also actively sold Coinbase shares in July, offloading over $103 million worth of shares. Additionally, ARK has been actively selling off shares of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust. On November 24th, the ARK Next Generation Internet ETF sold 94,624 GBTC shares for roughly $3 million.
Not Indicative of Bearish Bitcoin Sentiment
According to Bloomberg's ETF analyst Eric Balchunas, ARK's sales of GBTC shares do not indicate a lack of bullish sentiment towards Bitcoin. Balchunas explained that the sales were likely made to maintain desired weightings in the firm's portfolio. He noted that ARK has had to sell many shares of GBTC to keep a 9% weighting, even with the stock's 76% increase since August.
Concurrent Accumulation of Crypto-Related Stocks
While selling Coinbase and GBTC shares, ARK has been acquiring shares of other crypto-related companies. On November 27th, the firm acquired 252,421 shares of the crypto-friendly banking app SoFi. Year-to-date, ARK has purchased a total of 1.6 million SOFI shares, worth $11 million. Additionally, ARK has been accumulating shares of the crypto-friendly investment app Robinhood, buying $1.1 million worth of the stock on November 8th.
