Fund manager Cathie Wood and her ARK Invest Management firm are taking profits and on a selling spree that now includes Coinbase, as the cryptocurrency exchange rises to year-highs. COIN stock jumped Wednesday.
Coinbase Selling Spree
Wood and ARK Invest unloaded $82.1 million in Coinbase shares over the past three trading days, according to daily investor updates from the firm. Wood had also sold nearly $50.4 million worth of COIN stock Friday, after Coinbase rocketed to 2023 highs.
ARK sold 248,838 shares of COIN stock Monday, worth $26.26 million based on the 105.55 closing price.
The firm sold 127,266 shares from its flagship ARK Innovation ETF, representing 0.15% of the total ETF. Wood offloaded 8,708 shares from the ARK Next Generation Internet ETF, about 0.3% of the total fund. The firm sold 76,788 shares of COIN stock from the ARK Fintech Innovation ETF Monday, representing 0.78% of the total ETF.
Trading was much more muted Tuesday as Coinbase stock eased 1%. Wood and ARK sold 52,224 shares across the three ETFs worth $5.46 million based on the 104.59 closing price.
Wood unloaded Coinbase shares representing about 0.03% of ARKK's total holdings, 0.06% of ARKW's holdings and 0.16% of ARKF's total ETF, respectively.
Cryptocurrencies Rally On Court Case Win
Cryptocurrency prices and related stocks rallied at the end of last week after Ripple Labs scored what appears to be a major win in its court case against the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday.
The SEC sued Ripple in December 2020, accusing the crypto and blockchain solutions provider of offering its XRP token as an unregistered security. On Thursday, a judge in the Southern District of New York ruled XRP is a security when used for institutional sales but not when it's sold to the broader public. XRP rallied roughly 75% near 82 cents following the ruling.
Bitcoin and ethereum bolted near year-highs following the lawsuit update but faded early this week.
Bitcoin traded around $30,000 late Wednesday after rocketing as high as $31,809 last Thursday on the Ripple news. Ethereum briefly reclaimed its $2,000 level intraday last Thursday but slid back near $1,900 by Wednesday.
Coinbase Stock
Coinbase surged 5.3% to 110.15 Wednesday marking a new 2023 high. COIN stock rallied 24.5% last Thursday following the court decision. Shares are up about 22% over the past five days after paring gains on Friday and Tuesday.
COIN stock soared 211% so far this year.
You can follow Harrison Miller for more stock news and updates on Twitter @IBD_Harrison
