Coinspeaker
Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest Sells $12M in Coinbase Shares amid Rally
Cathie Wood’s Ark Investment Management LLC trimmed its sizable holding of Coinbase Global Inc stock on Tuesday, July 11. Wood’s Ark Innovation ETF sold 135,152 COIN shares worth $12 million, its first sale of the stock since July 26 last year.
The 135,152 sold translates to 0.14% of the fund’s total COIN holdings. According to the fund’s website, it currently holds Coinbase shares worth $711.24 million, its second-largest holding after Tesla stock and 8.25% of its total holdings. It was a well-timed sale that comes as COIN shares approach a one-year high following an announcement that the cryptocurrency exchange had reached a surveillance-sharing agreement with Cboe’s BZX Exchange for five of its spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) applications – Wise Origin, WisdomTree, VanEck, Invesco Galaxy and ARK 21Shares.
According to amendments made on Tuesday to the original filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the agreement for each of these applications was settled on June 21.
“On June 21, 2023, the Exchange reached an agreement on terms with Coinbase, Inc., an operator of a United States-based spot trading platform for Bitcoin that represents a substantial portion of US-based spot trading platform for Bitcoin that represents a substantial portion of US-based and USD-denominated Bitcoin trading, to enter into a surveillance-sharing agreement (“Spot BTC SSA”) and executed an associated term sheet,” the filing stated.
The price of Coinbase stock surged from $82 to heights of $90.9 on Tuesday, July 11, closing the day at $89. TradingView data shows that COIN stock is up over 60% over a month and more than 140% year-to-date.
The sale via the Ark Innovation ETF is the second time Wood has taken profits from COIN stock this year. In March the ARK Fintech Innovation ETF sold 160,887 COIN shares at about $84 shares for a total of $13.5 million. Wood’s firm is known for making large purchases of Coinbase stock for the various ARK funds. In June, for instance, the investment firm bought COIN shares worth $4 million. They bought a total of $33 million in COIN in April and May and $1117 million in March.
Some Coinbase executives, including CEO Brian Armstrong, have been taking advantage of the stock’s rally in recent months. On July 6, Armstrong and other senior executives sold $6.9 million in COIN stock and before that, on June 29, the exchange’s chief accounting officer Jennifer Jones sold 74,375 shares worth $5.2 million.
Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest Sells $12M in Coinbase Shares amid Rally