Cathie Wood's Ark continues its Coinbase and Block buying spree

Quick Take

  • Cathie Wood’s Ark continued its Coinbase and Block buying spree on Monday. 
  • The firm purchased 18,555 shares in Jack Dorsey’s Block and 37,725 shares in Coinbase after big buys on Friday.

Cathie Wood's Ark Invest continued its Coinbase and Block buying spree, scooping up tens of thousands of shares in the tech growth names on Monday. 

The firm — which is known for its technology stock exchange-traded funds — purchased a further 32,378 shares in crypto exchange Coinbase for the Ark Innovation ETF (ARKK) after acquiring more than 182,000 shares on Friday. It also purchased 5,347 Coinbase shares for its Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW). 

The firm's Fintech Innovation (ARKF) fund, meanwhile, purchased 18,555 shares in Jack Dorsey's Block, following a purchase of more than 288,000 shares across three of its funds on Friday. 

Ark's trading activity indicates Wood's unwavering conviction in two names that have faced negative headlines in recent weeks. Coinbase received a Wells notice from the Securities and Exchange Commission over its listing practices and staking service, the company revealed last week. That development could put the exchange's business model into question, as Needham analyst John Todaro recently noted

As for Block, the payments firm faces a litany of accusations from short seller Hindenburg Research, which claims the its flagship product Cash App — which supports bitcoin buys — lacked proper compliance controls, inflated its user numbers and facilitated crime. Block is exploring legal action against Hindenburg and described their report as "factually inaccurate and misleading."

THE SCOOP

Keep up with the latest news, trends, charts and views on crypto and DeFi with a new biweekly newsletter from The Block's Frank Chaparro

By signing-up you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy
By signing-up you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

US banks collapse

Ark's recent buys shouldn't come as a surprise given Wood's conviction on crypto in the wake of the meltdown of several community banks in the U.S., including the likes of Silvergate and Silicon Valley Bank. 

"It was fascinating to see bitcoin and other crypto assets appreciate as regional bank stocks imploded... just like gold," Wood noted in a recent video interview. 

"Coinbase has been prepared, they've been preparing for this," she said referring to Coinbase's brouhaha with the SEC. "In the interim I think this becomes a national election issue."


© 2023 The Block. All Rights Reserved. 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.

About Author

Frank Chaparro is Host of The Scoop podcast and Director of Special Projects. He also writes a biweekly newsletter. Chaparro started his career at Business Insider, where he specialized in the intersection of digital assets and Wall Street, market structure, and financial technology. Soon after joining Business Insider out of Fordham University, Chaparro was interviewing top finance and tech executives, including billionaire Mark Cuban, “Flash Boys” star Brad Katsuyama, Cboe Global Markets CEO Ed Tilly, and New York Stock Exchange President Tom Farley. In 2018, he become a sought after reporter in the crypto world, interviewing luminaries such as Tyler Winklevoss, the cofounder of Gemini, Jeremy Allaire, the CEO of Circle, and Fundstrat head Tom Lee. For inquiries or tips, email [email protected].

Editor

To contact the editor of this story:
Andrew Rummer at
[email protected]