Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest Sells $12M Worth of Coinbase Shares

Ark Investment Management, the investment management firm helmed by Cathie Wood, has sold 135,152 shares of cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase (COIN) worth approximately $12 million.

Coinbase Stock Rallies 

According to a report by Bloomberg, the sale transaction took place on Tuesday, a day that the stock surged by 9.8% to $89.15 after Coinbase reached a surveillance-sharing agreement with Cboe’s BZX Exchange for five of its spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) applications. 

Moreover, Coinbase stock is up 60% over the past month and has risen more than 150% this year despite the crypto exchange facing a lawsuit from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In contrast, COIN dropped 86% in 2022.

Meanwhile, this makes it the second time Ark Invest will be taking profit from its Coinbase stockpile this year. In March, the investment management firm, through its ARK Fintech Innovation ETF, offloaded $13.5 million worth of COIN.

Ark Invest’s COIN Buying Spree 

Prior to these two sales, Ark Invest had been on a buying spree this year. The company bought $117 million worth of shares in March and $33 million between April and May. Also in June, the investment firm purchased around $40 million worth of COIN, shortly after the SEC filed a securities lawsuit against the crypto exchange.

According to Ark Invest’s 13F filing, the company held 12.12 million shares of Coinbase valued at $867.3 million as of the end of Q2 2023. In contrast, the investment firm held 9.19 million shares, valued at $325.21 million as of the end of 2022. Ark is the fourth-largest holder of Coinbase stock, according to Bloomberg.

Meanwhile, Ark Invest is not the only one dumping part of its Coinbase stock for profit as the price continues to rally. Last week, Coinbase’s top executives offloaded shares worth approximately $6.89 million, with CEO Brian Armstrong selling 74,325 shares, valued at over $5.8 million.

COIN was trading at $87.41 at the time of writing, dropping by 1.95% on the day.