Cathie Wood's investment firm, ARK, has sold 100,739 shares of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) worth $2.5 million from its ARK Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW), based on a trade notification report. This sale coincides with GBTC reaching multi-month highs, touching $24.7 for the first time since May 2022. GBTC has experienced impressive gains this year, rising over 200%, with nearly 30% growth over the past 30 days.
Notably, this GBTC sale marks ARK's first reported transaction related to GBTC since November 2022, when the firm increased its holdings in ARKW by 450,272 GBTC shares valued at $4.5 million. These recent sales account for roughly 2% of the total GBTC portfolio value within ARKW, which amounted to $122.6 million as of October 23. GBTC constitutes the most significant share in ARKW's portfolio, making up 10.4% of its exposure, followed by Coinbase and Roku at 9% and 7.4%, respectively.
Some market observers, including Bitcoin advocate Samson Mow, speculate that ARK's decision to sell GBTC may be related to the pending decision from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) concerning its application to list a Bitcoin-based exchange-traded fund (ETF). Grayscale submitted a new BTC ETF registration statement to the SEC on October 19, just days after ARK revised its spot Bitcoin ETF filing on October 11. Online traders have also speculated that if ARK's spot Bitcoin ETF is approved, it may become one of ARKW's primary holdings, leading to a potential reduction in GBTC exposure. ARK has yet to respond to requests for comments on this matter.
Apart from the GBTC sale, ARK has also divested 32,158 shares of Coinbase from ARKW and another 10,455 Coinbase shares from the ARK Fintech Innovation Fund, amounting to a total of $3.4 million. On a different note, ARK continues to increase its holdings of Robinhood stock, having added 32,158 shares valued at $300,000 to ARKW's portfolio on October 23.
