ARK Invest’s Cathie Wood Adds Coinbase Shares Worth About $20 Million

The flagship ARK Invest fund, Ark Innovation ETF (ARKK) purchased 301,437 Coinbase shares, while ARK Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW) bought 52,525.

Based on a closing price of $58.09, the purchase cost the firm just over $20 million. The largest U.S. stock exchange’s shares fell 7.81% during the March 10 trading session. Premarket forecasts anticipate a further decline to $57.38.

Since the start of the year Coinbase stock has risen from $33.60 by about 73%. The peak was recorded on February 2 at $81.46.

In mid-last month ARK Invest bought Coinbase shares worth about $9.3 million and $6.7 million.

ARKK, with total assets of $840.3 million, Coinbase shares in the portfolio account for 10.33%; ARKW (1.24 billion) — 6.36%.

Resumed acquiring Coinbase shares by ARK Invest in October 2022. In the following month, the funds spent another $21.4 million on these targets, in December — $3 million and $5 million.

The firm continued to increase Coinbase’s share in the portfolio, despite early-2023 rumors of claims by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission against the platform’s staking program. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said he was prepared to defend the position in court.

In February it emerged that another U.S. platform — Kraken — settled SEC charges regarding a similar product. The company agreed to pay a $30 million fine and shut the program.

Earlier, ARK Invest founder and CEO Cathie Wood forecast Bitcoin’s market capitalization rising to $4.5 trillion. Shares of crypto-related companies typically correlate with the price of digital gold.

Earlier, in July 2022, ARK Invest divested Coinbase shares for $75 million. The move came amid reports of the SEC’s investigation into the exchange’s activities.