By Prathik Desai, Source: Tokendispatch, Compiled by Shaw Jinse Finance
For the past few months, I've been tracking Ark Invest's daily trading in cryptocurrency companies. This US-based fund manages assets issued by exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and venture capital funds. Their buying and selling strategies reveal an interesting story about how they identify trading opportunities in an industry where timing can be difficult to grasp.
One move might be coincidental; two might be instinctive.
Ark's cryptocurrency trades demonstrate an uncanny ability to sense timing, a perception that is deliberate rather than reactive. This is evident in the fact that they profited over $265 million in June and July simply by trading Coinbase and Circle stock. If you look closely, you can see that Ark Invest has been shifting its capital away from exchanges and trading platforms and into infrastructure, government bonds, and token investments. The company's recent trades offer a glimpse into how one of the most closely watched institutional investors optimizes returns for its retail cryptocurrency investors by moving money in and out of its funds quickly and frequently at opportune moments. This is a stark contrast to the "hold firm" rhetoric in the cryptocurrency space and is more complex. On June 5, 2025, Circle Internet Financial, the issuer of USDC, the largest regulated stablecoin in the United States, went public on the New York Stock Exchange at $69 per share. Ark Invest was a cornerstone investor, with its funds subscribing to 4.49 million shares for a total value of approximately $373 million. On June 23, Circle's stock price peaked at $263.45 per share. This means the market valued Circle at approximately $60 billion, roughly 100% of its then-current assets under management. This may be due to market optimism about the future of stablecoins and an attempt to price Circle's future revenue at 10 times its current assets under management. However, compared to the valuations of traditional asset managers, this still appears excessive. BlackRock, for example, manages $12.5 trillion in assets, but its market capitalization is just over $180 billion, or approximately 1.4% of its assets under management. That's it, and that's the signal from Ark Invest. Daily trading filings show that as Circle's stock premium continued to soar, Ark Invest gradually sold off its holdings in Circle across multiple funds. Ark Invest began selling shares a week before the stock's peak. During Circle's parabolic rise, Ark Invest sold approximately 1.5 million shares, or 33% of its holdings, valued at approximately $333 million. This represents a paper profit of over $200 million, or 160%, on the shares it purchased during Circle's Wall Street IPO less than three weeks prior. Ark Invest's interest in hot initial public offerings (IPOs) doesn't stop there. Last week, the firm bought 60,000 shares of Figma on its first day of trading. The San Francisco-based design software company disclosed in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that it holds $70 million in a Bitcoin ETF and has approval to purchase an additional $30 million. Figma's stock price soared over 200% on its first day of trading, closing at $115.50, a 250% increase. The following day, Figma's stock price rose another 5.8%. Ark Invest's recent trading on Coinbase sheds more light on its systematic profit-taking patterns. As of April 30, 2025, Ark Invest held 2.88 million shares of the largest US cryptocurrency exchange. Since then, the company has been on track to achieve profitability by the end of July. Meanwhile, as Bitcoin reached an all-time high of over $112,000, Coinbase's stock price also rallied. During this period, Coinbase's stock price reached over $440 per share, a new all-time high. On July 1, Ark Invest reduced its holdings by $43.8 million. On July 21, Coinbase's stock price peaked, Ark Invest's three funds reduced their holdings by $93.1 million. Overall, Ark Invest sold 528,779 shares of Coinbase between June 27 and July 31, representing approximately 20% of its total Coinbase holdings and over $200 million at an average price of $385 per share. These trades resulted in a profit of over $66 million compared to Ark Invest's weighted average cost of approximately $260 per share over the four years it spent increasing its Coinbase holdings. Over the past two months, Coinbase has lost its position as a top asset for the funds in Ark Invest's portfolio. After the market closed on July 31, Coinbase reported disappointing second-quarter results. The following day, its stock price plummeted 17%, from approximately $379 to $314. On August 1st, the day the stock price plummeted, Ark Invest purchased $30.7 million worth of Coinbase shares. These trades weren't isolated incidents. They were part of a strategic shift, pulling money out of the overheated cryptocurrency exchange ecosystem and investing in sectors that were just beginning to gain widespread attention. The Coinbase sell-off coincided with a similar sell-off at rival Robinhood. Both withdrawals coincided with Ark Invest investing the majority of its funds into BitMine Immersion Technologies, which has been called the "microstrategy of Ethereum." BitMine, led by Wall Street veteran Tom Lee, is building a treasury reserve of Ethereum, aiming to hold and stake 5% of all ETH. On July 22, Ark Invest invested $182 million in BitMine through a block trade. But they didn't just buy once and forget about it. Ark Invest systematically bought into BitMine every time it saw a significant dip, accumulating over $235 million in just two weeks. These trades suggest that Ark Invest is shifting from cryptocurrency exchanges and payment companies to so-called crypto infrastructure. Coinbase and Robinhood profit when people trade cryptocurrencies, while BitMine profits by directly holding cryptocurrencies. These are different ways to gain exposure to cryptocurrencies, but each has a different risk profile. Exchanges benefit from volatility and speculation. When cryptocurrency prices fluctuate significantly, more people trade, and the exchange earns more money. However, this is cyclical. Companies like BitMine directly benefit from rising cryptocurrency prices. If Ethereum rises 50%, BitMine's assets also rise 50%. This doesn't depend on trading volume or user behavior. Even without significant capital appreciation, staking Ethereum in the network can generate consistent returns. However, higher returns come with greater risk. Crypto treasury companies also face direct downside risk. When the price of ETH falls, the value of BitMine's assets also decreases. This makes crypto treasury companies among the companies with higher beta coefficients. Ark Invest's trades reflect its belief in cryptocurrencies: that cryptocurrencies are evolving from speculative trading markets to something more like permanent financial infrastructure. In such a world, owning the underlying assets may be more valuable than owning the platforms on which people trade them. The interesting thing about these trades is their precise timing. They sold Circle's stock price as it was surging to its peak. They also took advantage of Figma's 250% surge on its first day of trading. They also sold Coinbase's stock price at its peak and doubled down after the company's stock plummeted following poor earnings. They bought into BitMine during multiple market declines. Their methodology combines traditional value investing principles with precise timing. When Circle was trading at 100% of its assets under management, it was likely overpriced. When Coinbase's stock price dropped 17% in the day after its earnings report, it was likely underpriced. Ark Invest also appears to precisely time trades around predictable events like earnings releases, regulatory decisions, and market fluctuations. There's a larger question here: Why do these stocks trade at such significant premiums in the first place? Circle briefly traded at parity with its full assets under management. BitMine traded at multiples of its Ethereum holdings. These premiums exist because most investors can't easily buy cryptocurrency directly. Even if they can, retail cryptocurrency trading platforms don't offer a seamless experience. If you want to invest in Ethereum in your pension fund, it's not as easy to buy it as it is to buy shares in the company that owns the Ethereum Treasury Reserve. This creates a structural advantage for companies holding crypto assets. Ark Invest's trading suggests they're well aware of this dynamic. They buy when premiums are reasonable and sell when they're excessive.
Ark Invest's strategy proves that investing in cryptocurrency stocks is more than a simple buy-and-hold game, especially when you want to optimize returns. For anyone trying to follow Ark Invest's cryptocurrency trading, simply knowing what they bought isn't enough. You need to understand why they bought, when they might sell, and what they might turn to next.
Currently, Ark Invest's crypto trading provides a useful window into how professional funds manage crypto risk.
Joy
Jasper
Hui Xin
Davin
Brian