Cathie Wood Continues Buying Coinbase Shares Despite SEC Actions
ARK Invest, a prominent investment firm founded by Wall Street veteran and Bitcoin enthusiast Cathie Wood, continues to show strong support for Coinbase despite regulatory pressure in the United States.
Recently, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit against Coinbase, alleging that the cryptocurrency exchange violated federal laws by selling unregistered securities. The SEC claimed that Coinbase operated as a broker, exchange, and clearing agency without the necessary registration.
This legal action, which followed a similar case against Binance, caused significant market turbulence. On Tuesday, Coinbase (COIN:NASDAQ) shares plummeted by 18%, reaching lows not seen since January 2023.
However, contrary to the prevailing bearish sentiment, Wood saw this as an opportunity and increased her investment in Coinbase at a substantial discount. Her asset management firm purchased over 419,000 COIN shares, amounting to approximately $21.6 million based on Tuesday’s closing price of $51.61.
These acquisitions were made through three funds managed by ARK: the Ark Innovation ETF, the Ark Next Generation Internet ETF, and the Ark Fintech Innovation ETF. The largest portion of shares, nearly 330,000, came from the Ark Innovation ETF. The other two funds contributed around 53,000 and 35,000 shares, respectively.
This recent purchase marks ARK’s first acquisition of Coinbase shares since early May. With this transaction, ARK now holds a total of 11.44 million Coinbase shares, valued at approximately $590 million.
ARK Invest’s continued support for Coinbase despite its ongoing challenges in the US demonstrates the firm’s unwavering confidence in the exchange. Cathie Wood has emerged as one of Coinbase’s most prominent backers since its initial public offering in 2021, frequently investing in the company’s vehicles.
Despite the initial setback caused by regulatory actions from the SEC, Coinbase shares have shown resilience and have aligned with the broader cryptocurrency market. As of Wednesday’s pre-open trading, COIN was trading slightly above $51.6, while Bitcoin recovered from the dip below the $26,000 mark experienced during the previous day’s trading.
