ARK Invest Sells Shares in Grayscale Bitcoin Trust as BTC Market Surges

By: Isha Das

ARK Investment Management, led by the well-known investor Cathie Wood, has sold significant shares in Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) amidst a market upsurge ignited by the expected approval of a Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF). The firm let go of 100,739 GBTC shares, which roughly equates to $2.5 million, from the ARK Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW).

The move follows a period of high performance for the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, which reached multi-month peaks, hitting $24.7, a price not seen since May 2022. Year-to-date, GBTC has seen an impressive surge of more than 200%, and has shown an upward trend of nearly 30% over the last month. The recent sale marks ARK's first reported GBTC transaction since November 2022, when the company added 450,272 GBTC shares, valued at $4.5 million, to ARKW.

The firm's decision to sell GBTC, according to Bitcoin advocate Samson Mow, might be connected to ARK's expectation of a decision from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding its application to list a Bitcoin-based ETF. The firm has also reduced its holdings in Coinbase (COIN), selling shares amounting to $3.4 million from both ARKW and the ARK Fintech Innovation fund. However, the firm has continued to stack Robinhood (HOOD) shares, adding HOOD shares worth $300,000 to ARKW recently.