ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood Ups Her Stake in Coinbase Following SEC Lawsuit

Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood upped her stake in Coinbase after a US regulator accused the exchange of operating unlawfully. 

Three Ark Investment Management LLC funds, including Wood’s Ark Innovation ETF, bought 419,324 shares of Coinbase on Tuesday, according to Bloomberg News, citing its data. 

The price of Coinbase shares slumped to as low as $51.61, according to Nasdaq, but has since risen to just over $53 on Wednesday afternoon. 

The investment management firm has been bullish before on Coinbase.

Ark Invest bought an additional $8.5 million in COIN shares on May 1, and bought 129,604 more for its ARK Innovation ETF. 

Bullish on Coinbase despite SEC lawsuit

The US Securities and Exchange Commission charged Coinbase on Tuesday with operating its platform without registering it as an exchange, broker or clearing agency.

The regulator also charged the US crypto exchange for the unregistered offer and sale of securities related to its staking-as-a-service program. 

The agency named 13 cryptocurrencies as securities in the complaint, including SOL, ADA, MATIC, FIL, SAND, AXS, CHZ, FLOW, ICP, NEAR, VGX, DASH, and NEXO. 

Separately, the SEC filed 13 charges against crypto exchange Binance and its CEO Changpeng Zhao for operating an unregistered exchange and for misrepresentations about its oversight and control over Binance.US.

The agency then filed an emergency motion on Tuesday evening seeking a temporary restraining order freezing assets of the Binance.US platform. 

SEC Chair Gary Gensler has called on exchanges to register and recently said this month that they tend to be “rife with conflicts.” 

Gensler again called for crypto firms to register on Tuesday, after charges were filed against Binance and Coinbase. 

Gensler told CNBC’s Squawk Box that the SEC had discussions with many crypto firms, said it was time for them to comply. 

“The conversations have been constructive, but it’s also about them bringing a business model into compliance,” Gensler said.