Ark Invest bought $18 million worth of Coinbase shares during market slump

Ark Invest bought 93,797 Coinbase shares, worth $17.8 million, across three exchange-traded funds on Monday amid the broad market price plunge.

According to the company's latest trade filing, the Cathie Wood-led investment firm purchased 65,165 shares ($12.3 million) for its Innovation ETF (ARKK), 13,003 shares ($2.5 million) for its Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW) and 15,629 shares ($3 million) for its Fintech Innovation ETF (ARKF).

It’s the first time Ark has bought back Coinbase shares for its funds since acquiring $21 million worth of COIN in June 2023. The stock’s subsequent rise of more than 250% led to Ark offloading COIN numerous times during the period.

Ark’s investment strategy involves letting no individual holding take up more than 10% of an ETF’s portfolio. This is to maintain diversification within its funds — meaning Ark is likely to continue rebalancing its weightings if COIN rises or falls significantly relative to Ark's other holdings in its funds.

Monday was an example, with Ark seemingly taking advantage of market volatility surrounding U.S. recession fears and heightened geopolitical tensions.

Coinbase shares fell 7.3% on Monday to $189.47 by market close — COIN’s lowest level since February — reducing its year-to-date gains, at one point over 75%, to just 9.5%, according to TradingView. The stock is still up 113% over the past year but remains 45% below its all-time high of $342.98, set in November 2021.

COIN/USD price chart. Image: TradingView.

According to the firm’s disclosures, COIN is now the third-largest holding within its ARKK ETF, with a weighting of 8.6%, worth $441 million, as of Aug. 5. COIN is the fourth-largest holding in its ARKW fund at 6.7%, worth $82.5 million. Coinbase shares represent Ark’s largest holding in its ARKF fund at 9.7%, worth $72 million.

Coinbase is valued at $35.2 billion as of Aug. 5, according to The Block’s data dashboard.

Ark buys Robinhood shares, offloads Block and Ethereum Futures ETFs

Ark also bought 681,885 shares in the crypto and stock trading app Robinhood for the same three funds on Monday, worth $11.2 million, as HOOD fell 8.2% by market close. Robinhood reportedly halted 24-hour trading on its platform amid the pre-market volatility on Monday morning.

However, the investment firm wasn’t just buying the dip. It decided to offload shares in Jack Dorsey’s Block, which agreed to supply Bitcoin miner Core Scientific with its new 3-nanometer mining ASICs last month. Ark sold 454,775 Block shares on Monday, worth $26 million, as the stock fell 5.3% on the day.

Ark also sold $3.4 million worth of the ProShares Ethereum Futures ETF, EETH, on Monday, as well as over $484,000 worth of its own Ethereum Futures ETF, ARKZ, as they both fell nearly 20% for the day amid a flurry of activity.

Bitcoin plummeted below $50,000 at one point on Monday, while ether briefly lost all its year-to-date gains as its price dropped below $2,200 before recovering. Bitcoin is currently trading for $55,156, according to The Block's Bitcoin Price Page, up 6.2% over the past 24 hours. Ether is changing hands for $2,460, per The Block's Ethereum Price Page, gaining 7.4% over the same period. Meanwhile, the GMCI 30, which represents a selection of the top 30 cryptocurrencies, rose 8.7% over the last 24 hours to 105.84.