ARK Invest bought shares of Coinbase, Circle, Bullish, and Robinhood for around USD 16.9 million. It marked the second purchase of the same crypto stock basket within a week.
ARK Invest is an actively managed ETF provider led by Cathie Wood that focuses on technology-driven growth companies. Three of its funds hold crypto stocks as core positions: the ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK), the ARK Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW), and the ARK Fintech Innovation ETF (ARKF). The asset manager rebalances actively as soon as a single position reaches the internal threshold of 10% of fund assets. Therefore, both falling and rising prices can trigger purchases. The company had previously acquired the same four stocks on June 25, then during falling prices. However, the renewed purchase came while Coinbase gained 1.74% and Circle 3.25%. Thus, ARK stepped in regardless of the market's daily direction.
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Coinbase and Circle dominate ARK Invest's USD 16.9 million investment
Coinbase formed the largest single position. ARK bought 45,164 shares (COIN) worth USD 6.85 million, spread across the ARKK, ARKW, and ARKF ETFs. The stock closed at USD 151.65, a gain of 1.74%. Circle followed in second place with 81,757 shares (CRCL) for USD 6.21 million. The stock closed at USD 75.96 and rose 3.25%. Together, both stocks thus accounted for more than 77% of the total daily volume.
However, the remaining two positions came in much smaller. In addition, the asset manager acquired 149,422 Bullish shares (BLSH) for USD 3.54 million. The closing price stood at USD 23.69 (+1.72%). Likewise, Robinhood formed the smallest tranche with 2,943 shares (HOOD) worth around USD 300,000. The price stood at USD 101.83 (+3.18%). In June alone, ARK additionally acquired more than 111,000 Coinbase shares. As a result, Coinbase clearly leads the basket in June purchase value. The repeated buying points to a planned build-up.
The four stocks cover the crypto ecosystem systematically. Coinbase stands for exchange revenue and institutional services, Circle for stablecoin issuance and payment infrastructure. Bullish rounds out the picture as a crypto exchange with digital-asset infrastructure, Robinhood as a retail brokerage with attached crypto trading. Overall, the basket bundles four distinct segments into a single buying round. The fact that ARK added to it during rising prices this time gives the allocation additional weight.
USDC becomes first stablecoin on BNY's institutional custody platform
On the same day, Circle and the Bank of New York Mellon expanded their collaboration. USDC has since become the first stablecoin on BNY's digital-asset custody platform. The bank's institutional clients can now hold and transfer the token in custody wallets. In addition, clients can mint US dollars into USDC and redeem USDC back into dollars. The platform supports the function initially on Ethereum and Solana. As a result, regulated institutions gain a direct custody route for USDC within existing BNY infrastructure. With USD 59.4 trillion in assets under custody and administration, BNY ranks among the largest custodians worldwide. The bank likewise manages USD 2.1 trillion of its own assets.
The basis of this Circle-BNY partnership dates back to 2022, when BNY became the primary custodian for the USDC reserves. With the latest expansion, the token now becomes the first digital currency on the new custody platform. The platform previously already covered Bitcoin, Ether, and tokenized securities. By market capitalization, USDC is the second-largest stablecoin and reaches a circulation of around USD 73.6 billion. As a regulated issuer, Circle thus moves to the center of institutional stablecoin demand.
Not least, the move gives Circle institutional tailwind, which places ARK's simultaneous purchase in a concrete context. At the same time, the asset manager's increased interest in CRCL coincides with a tangible business deal. From BNY's perspective, the new functions expand the ways in which clients move assets. This happens with the usual operational scale and resilience.
"BNY has always been where institutional finance acts first. The fact that USDC is the first stablecoin in their new offering reflects the regulatory diligence that Circle built into USDC from the start." - Kash Razzaghi, Chief Commercial Officer, Circle Internet Group
Benchmark sees Coinbase as a future infrastructure platform
ARK's Coinbase commitment receives support from the analyst side. Benchmark analyst Mark Palmer reaffirmed his "Buy" rating in June, along with a price target of USD 270. This target stems from an earlier raise from USD 260 to 270. The starting point was a Q1 net loss of USD 394 million. However, the bank contrasts this with twelve independent business segments. Each segment generates around USD 100 million on an annualized basis. Ultimately, this diversification should make Coinbase less dependent on the fluctuating trading business.
At the center of the assessment stands tokenization. Coinbase launched tokenized US stocks in June as part of its "System Update" strategy. The company had originally presented this strategy in mid-June. With this, Benchmark justifies the transition from a cyclical crypto exchange to a fundamental infrastructure platform. Through the tokenized stocks, the company moves closer to traditional trading venues and taps revenue beyond pure crypto trading. Benchmark considers these revenues comparatively stable against the volatile commission business.
Despite a price decline of around 28% since the start of the year, ARK kept buying. The gap between the closing price of USD 151.65 and the Benchmark target of USD 270 is therefore striking. Consequently, the asset manager bets that the infrastructure revenues will prevail before the market prices them in. In this reading, the Q1 loss appears more as a transitional cost than as a structural break.
ARK Invest buys the same four stocks twice in one week
The double-purchase pattern falls outside the scope of a purely mechanical approach. Initially, ARK had bought the four stocks during falling prices on June 25. The follow-up purchase came during rising prices on June 29. The 10% rebalancing rule makes both possible. It triggers purchases as soon as the relative weightings in the fund shift, regardless of price direction.
However, the broad US market also gained on June 29, from the S&P 500 to the Dow Jones to the Nasdaq Composite. Ultimately, the crypto stocks did not represent a special phenomenon. However, ARK added to Coinbase in parallel across the three funds ARKK, ARKW, and ARKF. This points to cross-fund coordination. Consequently, the more than 111,000 Coinbase shares acquired in June read less as a reaction to daily volatility. They look more like a structural position build-up. Furthermore, the buying behavior remained constant throughout the entire week.
Overall, the character of the purchases thus shifts. A series of individual rebalancing steps becomes a recognizable commitment to the crypto stock segment. This commitment extends beyond short-term trading signals.
