ARK Invest liquidated its entire remaining Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) holdings worth $200 million on Dec. 28. Meanwhile, Marathon Digital has rocketed to the top of the U.S. stock charts in trading volume just weeks ahead of an anticipated Bitcoin ETF approval, and MicroStrategy has increased its Bitcoin ( BTC ) holdings by an additional 14,620 coins.

ARK sells remainder of GBTC holdings, invests $100M in Bitcoin ETF

Cathie Wood-led institutional asset management firm ARK Invest liquidated its entire remaining Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) holdings worth $200 million on Dec. 28, revealed Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas. 

Today ARK sold its entire remaining $GBTC position (it was ARKW's biggest holding only a month ago) and used half the money $100m-ish to buy $BITO , likely as liq transition tool to keep beta to btc while it legs into $ARKW or $ARKB . End of an era. h/t @DilksJay @funwithnumberz pic.twitter.com/J1i92qcmzo

— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) December 28, 2023

The investment firm used half of the money, about $100 million, from the sale of GBTC to invest in Bitcoin Futures ETF Bito. However, ETF analysts believe it’s a temporary parking spot for the investment firm as it looks for a more liquidity-rich portfolio. Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas said this latest investment shift by Ark has made it the second-largest Bito holder.

ARK Invest started off-loading GBTC shares in October when the Bitcoin price first hit $34,000; at the time, the investment firm sold 100,739 GBTC shares worth $2.5 million from its ARK Next Generation internet ETF (ARKW). The firm sold another 809,441 GBTC shares on Dec. 19 worth $27.9 million .

Apart from dumping the GBTC, ARK Invest also liquidated 148,885 Coinbase shares worth $27.5 million from its ARK Next Generation internet ETF (ARKW). The latest investment move by the asset management firm comes at a crucial juncture when there is intense speculation around the approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF.

Marathon Digital becomes most traded stock of the day, $327M in volume

Trading volumes for Bitcoin ( BTC ) miner Marathon Digital stocks have topped the charts for U.S. mid and large-cap stocks just weeks ahead of an anticipated approval of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF).

Over the last 24 hours, the publicly traded firm has seen more than 105 million shares worth of trading volume, beating the blue-chip stocks including Tesla, Apple, and Amazon, according to Yahoo Finance market data .

Here’s what happened in crypto today image 0 Shares in Marathon Digital are the most traded in the last 24 hours. Source: Yahoo Finance

The uptick in trading activity on Bitcoin mining stocks comes amid a renewed push from mining firms to expand their operations ahead of an expected approval of a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in early January as well as the Bitcoin halving in April.

While Bitcoin has enjoyed outsized growth throughout 2023 — up more than 163% from the beginning of this year — shares in Bitcoin miners have vastly outperformed that of the market-leading cryptocurrency.

Marathon Digital and Riot Platforms have posted a whopping respective gains of 767% and 452% year-to-date, according to data from TradingView.

Saylor adds to MicroStrategy's massive Bitcoin bags

Business intelligence firm MicroStrategy acquired an additional 14,620 BTC between Nov. 20 and Dec. 26, the company announced in a regulatory filing with the SEC.

The cumulative price of the newly acquired Bitcoin was $615.7 million, or $42,110 per coin. MicroStrategy has now amassed a staggering 189,150 BTC, making it one of the world's largest Bitcoin whales. 

MicroStrategy has made several massive BTC purchases in recent months, including 16,130 BTC in November , 6,067 between September and November, and 12,333 BTC in June.

MicroStrategy co-founder and executive chairman Michael Saylor has been hyper bullish on Bitcoin since at least 2020, when the firm first added BTC to its balance sheet. As Cointelegrpah reported, the company's stock, MSTR, is viewed by many as a Bitcoin proxy play . MSTR is up more than 350% this year.

Here’s what happened in crypto today image 1

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.