Ark Invest scoops up more Bitmine, Circle shares as crypto slump continues

Ark Invest bought additional shares in Bitmine, Bullish, Circle, and other crypto-related stocks during the ongoing market downturn.

According to its trade filing, Ark Invest purchased $3.25 million worth of shares in Ethereum treasury firm Bitmine through its exchange-traded fund on Tuesday. It also bought $3.46 million in Bullish crypto exchange, and $2.4 million in stablecoin issuer Circle.

The asset manager added smaller positions in Block Inc. and Coinbase, totaling $1.77 million and $630,606, respectively. 

The purchases extend Ark's move on Monday to increase exposure to crypto-linked stocks, which are trading at significant discounts amid the broader crypto market decline.

According to The Block's stock price page, Bitmine closed down 1.9% on Tuesday, while Bullish fell 3.9%. Circle dropped 4.6%, Block fell 6%, and Coinbase saw a 4.3% decline on the day.

The weakness in these stocks reflects the broader crypto market slump. Bitcoin was trading at $76,321 at the time of writing, down 3% in the past 24 hours despite a partial recovery earlier in the week. Ether fell 3.1% to $2,264.

Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood recently indicated on X that gold's recent price rally could be a precursor to bitcoin's next bull run.

"Important to note is that the correlation between the bitcoin and gold prices has been 0.14 since early 2020, and that the gold price led the last two significant bull moves in the bitcoin price in the last two major cycles," Wood wrote.

Citing data from Truflation, Wood said inflation could turn negative, as consumer price inflation has fallen to 0.86% year-over-year, significantly below the 2-3% range seen in the past two years.