Cathie Wood's Ark Invest Doubles Down on BitMine, Coinbase Stocks Amid Bitcoin Plunge

In brief

• Ark Invest added shares of crypto-related equities like Circle, BitMine Immersion Technologies, and Coinbase on Monday.
• The purchases come despite declining share prices amid falling crypto values.
• Ark also upped its exposure to Bitcoin via its spot Bitcoin ETF, ARKB.

Ark Invest, the investment firm of noted tech investor Cathie Wood, upped its exposure to crypto exchange Coinbase, stablecoin issuer Circle, and leading Ethereum treasury firm BitMine Immersion Technologies on Monday following Bitcoin’s weekend slide to its lowest price since 2024. The firm acquired more than $8.7 million worth of shares in Circle (CRCL) and more than $6 million of BitMine on Monday across its actively managed ETFs. It also added to its positions in crypto exchanges Coinbase (COIN) and Bullish (BLSH), Solana treasury firm Brera Holdings (SLMT), and its own spot Bitcoin ETF (ARKB).  It now maintains nearly $248 million worth of CRCL and $228 million of BMNR, making them the 15th and 16th largest Ark positions in total, according to data from Cathie’s Ark, which aggregates the firm’s ETF holdings. It also holds $425 million worth of shares in Coinbase, making it the firm’s 7th largest position.  

Shares in Circle and BitMine are both down on Tuesday and each have fallen more than 20% in the last five trading days according to data from Yahoo Finance. Their respective slides mirror that of other crypto-related equities like Coinbase and Bullish, which have dropped 15.74% and 23% respectively over the last week of trading. The latest Ark acquisitions follow a string of purchases from the fall in which the firm was stashing crypto-related equities, despite falling prices. For example, in November, Wood’s firm purchased more than $9 million in shares of BMNR as it traded around $38. The stock is now trading around $21.78, its lowest mark since BitMine announced last July that it was embracing an Ethereum treasury strategy, sending the stock up more than 400% in one day. Ark Invest’s purchases are in line with recent comments from Wood, who dismissed concerns about a bubble forming around artificial intelligence. She instead pointed to a bubble in precious metals like gold, which have recently stolen the shine from risk assets like Bitcoin.

Wood has maintained an outspoken bullish stance on BTC, predicting that prices for the top crypto asset could reach as high as $1.2 million per coin by 2030. That mark is down around 20% from a previous prediction of $1.5 million on account of the growing rise of stablecoin adoption. Bitcoin fell to a 15-month low of $75,442 on Sunday, according to data from CoinGecko, before ticking back up to nearly $79,000 on Monday. However, the price is plunging again on Tuesday, with BTC recently trading for $74,618.