Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest Sells Coinbase Near Top, Loads Up on Robinhood

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Trent Alan

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November 29, 2023 11:36 EST

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Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest continues to make moves in the crypto sector, trimming its Coinbase stake while adding to its Robinhood position. The asset management firm sold nearly $5.3 million worth of Coinbase shares on Monday from its ARK Fintech Innovation ETF as the crypto exchange’s stock price hit a 19-month high.

Meanwhile, ARK Invest bought $1.2 million in Robinhood stock, its fifth purchase of the trading app company this month. The trades come as cryptocurrencies show signs of recovering from a brutal 2022 bear market.

ARK Invest Trimming Coinbase After Big Jump

ARK Invest offloaded 43,956 Coinbase shares on November 28 as the stock closed at $119.77, its highest point since April 2021. Coinbase’s share price surged over 55% in November amid improved crypto market sentiment.

The $5.26 million Coinbase sale marks ARK’s largest dump of the crypto exchange’s shares since late July. Cathie Wood’s firm sold over $100 million worth of Coinbase shares in July as prices traded around $90.

ARK Invest has also been offloading shares of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), a cryptocurrency investment vehicle. On November 24, ARK’s Next Generation Internet ETF sold 94,624 GBTC shares worth around $3 million.

The sale comes after ARK dumped nearly 700,000 GBTC shares over the past month. However, the sales may not indicate ARK is less bullish on Bitcoin.

According to Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas, ARK is likely selling GBTC to rebalance its weightings as the fund has surged 76% since August. ARK still aims to maintain a 9% allocation to GBTC despite the sales.

Not defending ARK's btc predictions, but re its portfolio they like to sell winners (and vice-versa) to maintain desired weightings. Since $GBTC is up 76% since Aug so ARK *has* to sell many shares to keep a 9%-ish weighting. And even w that selling its weighting has gone up.. pic.twitter.com/juFYmOxyOs

— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) November 24, 2023

“Since GBTC is up 76% since August ARK has to sell many shares to keep a 9%-ish weighting. And even with that selling, its weighting has gone up,” Balchunas noted on X.

Cathie Wood Loading Up On Robinhood

While cutting its Coinbase and GBTC stakes, ARK Invest continues to accumulate shares of Robinhood, the commission-free trading app popular among retail investors.

ARK purchased 143,063 Robinhood shares worth $1.2 million on Monday as the stock traded near $8.50. The investment makes ARK’s fifth Robinhood buy this month as the once high-flying company’s shares remain depressed.

ARK Invest has snapped up over 1.6 million Robinhood shares in 2023, representing a vote of confidence in the troubled firm. Robinhood laid off 23% of its staff in August 2022, and an additional 7% in June 2023 amid continuously declining monthly active users and trading activity.

However, Robinhood’s crypto trading volume spiked in October by 92% even as its overall monthly users dropped. The company’s crypto-friendly platform could benefit from renewed interest in digital assets.

In addition, ARK has also been buying up shares of SoFi, the crypto-friendly banking app. On November 27, ARK’s Fintech Innovation ETF acquired 252,421 SoFi shares.

Year-to-date, ARK has purchased 1.6 million SoFi shares worth $11 million at today’s prices. The buys signal ARK’s ongoing interest in crypto-adjacent stocks.

Cathie Wood and ARK Invest appear to be hedging their bets, trimming Coinbase and GBTC exposure while continuing to build Robinhood and crypto-related positions. The moves reflect ARK’s flexibility and willingness to adjust its strategies quickly.

With crypto and fintech stocks highly volatile, ARK seems intent on capturing gains while still maintaining stakes should the sector heat up again. As cryptocurrencies emerge from a bitter bear market, ARK’s agility could serve it well.