Crypto stock investors should be at alert as three funds belonging to Ark Investment, an American investment management firm that manages several actively managed exchange-traded funds (ETF) ran by Bitcoin enthusiast, Cathie Wood, sold a total of more than 1.4 million shares of Coinbase Global (COIN).
The announcement was made by the firm in its daily trading update email on Wednesday. The move comes almost three months after Ark bought more than half a million shares in May. The move seems to be as a result of the decline seen in COIN shares as Year-to-Date (YtD) the stock is down almost 80%.
The announcement by Ark Investment also indicates the reason for the massive selloff the stock saw in its previous trading session. Coinbase shares closed down 21.08% at $52.93. Based on Tuesday’s closing price, the value of the offloaded shares would be over $75 million. Coinbase stock is currently trading 4.01% higher at $55.05, during pre-market skirmish.
What you should know
- ARK Innovation Exchange-Traded Fund ETF (AARK) sold 1,133,495 COIN shares or 0.6833% of the fund’s total investments.
- ARK Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW), sold 174,611, shares, or 0.6768% of the fund’s total investments.
- ARK Fintech Innovation ETF (ARKF) sold 110,218 shares, or 0.6793% of its total fund investments. This brings the total units of COIN shares sold to 1,418,324.
- The plunge in the cryptocurrency market has seen Coinbase digital shares fall from a high of over $400 on its first day of trading in 2021 to as low $40.30 at one point, as user transactions declined, due to the crypto bear market.
- Also weighing in on the price of COIN and the Ark Investment’s decision to sell could also be recent reports that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating the company for allowing Americans to trade in tokens that should have been registered as securities.
- Coinbase also recently stopped its affiliate marketing program citing bear market conditions as well as laying off over 1,000 of its employees.
Coinbase reported first-quarter 2022 loss of $1.98 per share in contrast to the year-ago earnings of $3.05 per share. The firm is expected to publish its second quarter 2022 shareholder letter, including financial results on the 9th of August 2022, after market close.
