Ark Invest liquidates remaining Grayscale stocks

Cathie Wood’s investment fund Ark Invest has sold all its remaining assets of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC).

Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas reported that half of the proceeds from the GBTC sale, amounting to a significant $100 million, were used to buy the BITO Bitcoin (BTC) futures ETF, launched by ProShares in October 2021. He suggested that the BITO purchase is likely being used as a liquidity bridge tool.

However, the deal did not have a significant impact on GBTC shares. At the time of writing, according to the Nasdaq exchange, it is trading at $36.32.

The company liquidated tens of millions of dollars in GBTC shares earlier in December. On Dec. 11, 2023, Ark Invest sold 395,945 GBTC trust shares from Grayscale Investments for $12.85 million.

Then, on Dec. 18, Ark Invest sold another 809,441 shares of Grayscale Investments’ GBTC Trust for $27.95 million from its Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW), the largest sale in the company’s history.

Ark Invest’s recent portfolio adjustments can be seen as a precautionary measure to position itself well while awaiting the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs. Previously, the head of the company, Cathie Wood, assumed that the funds would receive approval before Jan. 10, 2024. In her opinion, the introduction of spot Bitcoin ETFs will be a catalyst for the growth of the cryptocurrency, especially when institutional investors actively enter the sector.