Cathie Wood Halts Coinbase Sell-Off
Cathie Wood‘s Ark Investment Management refrained from selling shares of the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Global, Inc (COIN) on Monday, after offloading the stock in all four sessions of the previous week.
What Happened: Wood’s Ark Invest has been consistently selling Coinbase shares since July 2023, despite accumulating them after their direct listing in April 2021. Coinbase holds the top position in Ark’s flagship exchange-traded fund, the Ark Innovation ETF (ARKK), accounting for a 10.11% weighting in the ETF.
Coinbase is also the leading holding in Ark Fintech Innovation ETF (ARKF), representing a 13.47% weighting, and the Ark Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW), with a 10.35% weighting.
As of January 8, 2024, Ark held 7,567,947 Coinbase shares. At the closing price of $159.42 on Monday, Ark’s stake in the cryptocurrency exchange is valued at $1.21 billion.
The company’s 13F report for the third quarter, filed on Oct. 18, 2023, indicated Ark’s Coinbase stake was 10,603,564 shares valued at $796,115,573.
Between the end of the third quarter and now, the number of shares held by Ark decreased by 3,035,617, but its value increased by over $400 million, given the rally in the shares.
Crypto ETF Buzz and Investment Moves
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Wood, a known Bitcoin (BTC/USD) bull, saw the Coinbase liquidation raise questions. Some connected the move to the potential approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF by the SEC. Incidentally, Ark is among the 14 companies that have filed to sponsor a spot Bitcoin ETF, presenting the Ark 21Shares Spot Bitcoin ETF in collaboration with Swiss firm 21Shares.
Considering that Coinbase continues to be the top holding across three of its key funds, the selling seems to be related to profit-taking. Since Sept. 30, 2023, Coinbase shares have gained 112%. Reports suggest the SEC could potentially approve a spot Bitcoin ETF as early as Wednesday.
Qualcomm Chip Giant Resurgence
Chip Buy: Ark also purchased 57,848 shares of chip designer Qualcomm, Inc. (QCOM) on Monday through ARKW and ARK Autonomous Technology & Robotics ETF (ARKQ). The purchase is valued at $8.04 million, based on the stock’s closing price of $139.03 on Monday.
The fund manager reinitiated its position in Qualcomm after liquidating its entire holdings in the chipmaker in the third quarter of 2018. Meanwhile, Ark sold 32,971 shares of Roku, Inc. (ROKU) and 139,379 shares of automation platform provider UiPath Inc. (PATH).
Final Reflections and Market Closing
ARKK ended Monday’s session 2.82% higher at $50.28, according to Benzinga Pro data.
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