ARK Invest continues Coinbase sell-off, surpassing $200m in December sales

ARK Invest, headed by Cathie Wood, offloaded an additional 80,118 shares of Coinbase, valued at $13.5 million, from two of its investment funds, coinciding with the stock’s ongoing surge in December.

On Dec. 21, ARK Invest sold 68,769 Coinbase shares valued at $11.6 million from its Innovation ETF and 11,349 shares worth $1.9 million from its Next Generation Internet ETF.

With the recent sale of $30 million in Coinbase shares earlier this week, combined with the $108 million and $59 million worth of shares sold in the first and second weeks of December, Ark Invest’s total divestment from Coinbase this month has now reached approximately $210.5 million.

This strategy aligns with ARK’s policy of maintaining a cap on individual company exposure, aiming to keep it around 10% of its holdings.

Coinbase’s stock has been on a significant rise, hitting new yearly highs with a trading price of $168.03. This marks a 3.8% increase for the day, a 53.8% rise over the past month, and an impressive 400% growth year-to-date. However, it is still 50% below its all-time high from November 2021.

Grayscale BTC trust shares reduced

In addition to its Coinbase transactions, Ark Invest has also been reducing its holdings in the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC). On Dec. 18, the firm sold over 809,441 GBTC shares from its Next Generation Internet ETF, totaling approximately $27.6 million, the largest sale in over a year.

Ark’s recent sales coincide with a narrowing of GBTC’s discount to net asset value, falling from over 40% in June to around 7.6%.

Increased investment in Block

While reducing its exposure to Coinbase and GBTC, Ark Invest has been accumulating shares in Block. On Dec. 18, the firm purchased 347,692 Block shares for its ARKW fund, totaling around $25.7 million. Additionally, it acquired 158,334 shares worth $12.1 million for its Next Generation Internet ETF.

Block, co-founded by Twitter’s (now X) Jack Dorsey, now represents 6.83% of ARKW’s total assets, with a market value of $116.9 billion.