Ark Invest buys $8.4 million worth of Coinbase shares amid post-debate dip

Ark Invest bought 53,708 Coinbase shares, worth $8.4 million, across three of its exchange-traded funds on Wednesday amid a broad crypto-related market drop following the U.S. presidential debate on Tuesday night.

According to the company's latest trade filing, the Cathie Wood-led investment firm purchased 38,475 shares ($6 million) for its Innovation ETF (ARKK), 9,349 shares ($1.5 million) for its Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW) and 5,884 shares ($925,000) for its Fintech Innovation ETF (ARKF).

It’s the first time Ark bought or sold Coinbase shares for its funds since acquiring $21.8 million worth of COIN in early August, coinciding with crypto market lows that saw the price of bitcoin briefly drop below the $55,000 level.

Ark’s investment strategy involves letting no individual holding take up more than 10% of an ETF’s portfolio. This is to maintain diversification within its funds — meaning Ark is likely to continue rebalancing its weightings if the value of Coinbase stock rises or falls significantly relative to Ark's other holdings in its funds.

According to the firm’s disclosures, COIN is now the fourth-largest holding within its ARKK ETF, with a weighting of 6.5%, worth around $355 million, as of Sept. 12. COIN is the sixth-largest holding in its ARKW fund at 5.1%, worth $67 million. Coinbase shares represent Ark’s second-largest holding in its ARKF fund at 7.3%, worth $60 million.

Coinbase is valued at $29.2 billion as of Sept. 11, according to The Block’s data dashboard .

Trump vs. Harris debate a ‘sell-the-news’ event

Ark seemingly took advantage of market volatility on Wednesday following the first Donald Trump and Kamala Harris debate.

Coinbase shares initially fell around 5% on Wednesday before later recovering to close the day down 0.8% at $157.15, according to TradingView. After a good start to the year into spring, subsequent declines have pushed COIN into a negative return of 9% for 2024, though it remains 92% up over the past 12 months. Coinbase shares are currently trading up 2.2% at $160.55 pre-market.

COIN/USD price chart. Image: TradingView .

Tuesday night's U.S. presidential debate turned into a "sell-the-news" event, sparking risk-off sentiment in crypto amid consensus that Donald Trump's performance against Kamala Harris was underwhelming, according to Bitfinex analysts .

The price of bitcoin also fell 2.6% from around $57,700 to $56,100 in the hours immediately following the televised debate before later recovering, with the analysts highlighting that a Trump victory is generally viewed as more favorable for risk assets, including crypto, given his more vocally positive stance toward the industry. Bitcoin BTC +2.33% is currently trading for $58,240, according to The Block’s Bitcoin Price Page .

BTC/USD price chart. Image: The Block/TradingView .