ARK Invest sold an additional 43,956 Coinbase shares, worth approximately $5.2 million, as Coinbase hits an 18-month high.
Amid the chaos surrounding Binance and its CEO, Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, Coinbase shares have climbed to an 18-month high to reach $119.7 per share. Coinbase surged after its rival exchange agreed to pay a $4.3 billion fine, and the company CEO stepped down. Binance is facing criminal charges from the US government for its alleged involvement in violating anti-money laundering laws and sanctions.
Coinbase Shares Rocket
According to data from TradingView, Coinbase shares reached an 18-month high after closing at $119.77 on November 27 – its highest since May 5, 2022. Coinbase saw its share price increase following the scandal surrounding Binance and the announcement that Coinbase would act as custodian for numerous recent spot bitcoin ETF applications.
In one of most significant penalties in industry history, Binance and CZ settled with the Department of Justice, which included a fine of $4.3 billion and CZ stepping down as CEO of the exchange. Binance and CZ pleaded guilty to money laundering and sanctions violations.
ARK Invest Takes Profit
In response to the massive price surge, ARK Invest, led by powerhouse Cathie Wood, sold an additional 43,956 Coinbase shares worth approximately $5.2 million. According to a trade notification seen by Cointelegraph, on November 27, ARK sold the shares from its ARK Fintech Innovation ETF.
ARK has systematically sold some of its Coinbase shares throughout 2023.
ARK sold $103 million worth of COIN shares in July while trading at around $90. ARK has also offloaded Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) shares. On November 24, ARK sold off 94,624 GBTC shares. Bloomberg’s chief ETF analyst, Eric Balchunas, said ARK’s sale of GBTC does not indicate the firm is not bullish on Bitcoin or making up space for its possible spot Bitcoin ETF with 21Shares.
Just saw another article on how ARK is selling GBTC and how that means they aren’t really bullish btc and/or they making room for ARKB. Neither is true. With ARK you gotta look at weightings history bf you begin your interpretation. FYI https://t.co/GJL6RWKvK2
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) November 27, 2023
Balchunas noted on X:
“Since GBTC is up 76% since August ARK has to sell many shares to keep a 9%-ish weighting. And even with that selling, its weighting has gone up.”
Despite ARK’s current offloading of Coinbase shares, the company did buy 420,000 COIN shares in June, shortly after the SEC sued the exchange.
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
