ARK's Precision Operation: How to Profit Over $200 Million in Two Months

Article Author:

Prathik Desai

Article Compiled by

Block Unicorn

For the past few months, I've been tracking ARK Invest's daily trades in cryptocurrency companies. The US fund company manages assets issued by exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and venture funds. Their buying and selling strategies reveal an interesting story about how they time trades in a seemingly extremely difficult industry.

Once a trade might be a coincidence; twice it might be intuition.

ARK's cryptocurrency trades display a remarkable sense of timing that's deliberate, not reactive. This is evident in the over $265 million they profited from trading stakes in Coinbase and Circle in June and July. A closer look reveals ARK has been shifting capital away from exchanges and trading platforms and toward infrastructure, treasury, and token exposure. Its recent trades offer a glimpse into how this high-profile institutional investor optimizes returns for its retail crypto stakeholders by moving capital quickly and at precisely the right moments. This is a more complex and nuanced take on the crypto world's "diamond hands" narrative.

Cathie Wood

, CEO and Chief Investment Officer of ARK Invest

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, as the lead investor, purchased 4.49 million shares through its various funds, valued at approximately $373 million. On June 23rd, Circle's stock price peaked at $263.45 per share. This implies that the market valued Circle at approximately $60 billion, or roughly 100% of its assets under management at the time. This may be due to market optimism about the future of stablecoins and an attempt to price Circle at projected revenues at 10 times its current AUM. However, this still appears excessive compared to the valuations of traditional asset managers. By comparison, BlackRock, which manages $12.5 trillion in assets, has a market capitalization of only $180 billion, or approximately 1.4% of its assets under management. This is a sign for ARK. Daily trading filings show that ARK methodically sold Circle shares across its funds as the premium on Circle’s stock price swelled. ARK began selling a week before the stock price peaked. In total, ARK sold approximately 1.5 million shares, or 33% of its total holdings, worth approximately $333 million in Circle shares during the stock's surge. This means ARK booked a paper profit of over $200 million on these shares, a 160% return, less than three weeks after Circle's Wall Street debut. ARK's interest in hot IPOs doesn't stop there. Last week, it bought 60,000 shares of Figma on its debut. The San Francisco-based design software company disclosed in an SEC filing that it holds $70 million in its Bitcoin ETF and has authorization to purchase an additional $30 million. Figma's stock soared over 200% on its first day of trading, closing at $115.50, a 250% gain. The following day, Figma's stock price rose another 5.8%. ARK's recent trading on Coinbase provides more insight into its systematic pattern of profit-taking. As of April 30, 2025, ARK held 2.88 million shares of Coinbase, the largest U.S. cryptocurrency exchange. Since then, ARK has been systematically taking profits until the end of July. This period coincided with Bitcoin breaking through $112,000 to set a new all-time high, and Coinbase's stock price also reached an all-time high of over $440 per share. On July 1st, ARK sold $43.8 million worth of shares. On July 21st, the day Coinbase's stock price peaked, ARK sold $93.1 million worth of shares across its three funds. In total, ARK sold 528,779 shares, representing approximately 20% of its total Coinbase holdings, valued at over $200 million, between June 27th and July 31st, at an average price of $385 per share. By comparison, ARK Invest's weighted average cost of accumulating Coinbase shares over four years was approximately $260, implying a profit of over $66 million from these trades. Over the past two months, Coinbase has lost its position as the top-weighted holding in ARK's fund portfolios. After the market closed on July 31st, 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 plummeted, ARK bought $30.7 million worth of Coinbase shares. These trades weren't isolated incidents. They were part of ARK's strategic shift, shifting funds away from the overheated cryptocurrency exchange ecosystem and toward emerging sectors. Simultaneously with the sale of its Coinbase shares, ARK also sold shares of its competitor, Robinhood. These two divestments coincided with ARK shifting the majority of its funds to BitMine Immersion Technologies, known as the "MicroStrategy of Ethereum." BitMine, led by Wall Street veteran Tom Lee, is building an Ethereum treasury with the goal of holding and staking 5% of all Ethereum. On July 22nd, ARK invested $182 million in BitMine in a single block trade. But this wasn't a one-time buy-and-forget. ARK systematically bought into BitMine during each significant share price drop, accumulating over $235 million worth of shares in just two weeks. These transactions show ARK's shift 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 cryptocurrency adoption, but with different risk profiles. Exchanges benefit from volatility and speculation. When cryptocurrency prices fluctuate wildly, people trade more, and exchanges earn more. However, this is cyclical. Vault companies like BitMine directly benefit from rising cryptocurrency prices. If the price of Ethereum rises 50%, the value of BitMine's assets also rises 50%. This is independent of trading volume or user behavior. Even without significant capital appreciation, staking Ethereum on the network can generate a stable income. However, with higher returns comes greater risk. Vault companies also face direct downside risk. When the price of Ethereum falls, the value of BitMine's assets also declines. This gives vault strategies a higher beta. ARK's trading reflects its belief that cryptocurrencies are maturing from speculative trading markets to more permanent financial infrastructure. In such a world, holding the underlying assets may be more valuable than owning the platforms that allow people to trade them. What’s interesting about these trades is the precise timing. They sold Circle during its fantastic rally, right as the stock price peaked. They capitalized on Figma’s 250% surge on its first day of trading. They also sold Coinbase at its peak and doubled down after disappointing earnings reports sent the stock plummeting. They bought BitMine at multiple market lows. Their methodology combines traditional value investing principles with precise timing. When Circle was trading at 100% of its assets under management, its valuation was likely high. When Coinbase dropped 17% in the day after its earnings report, it might have been cheap. ARK also appears to trade based on predictable events—such as earnings releases, regulatory decisions, and market volatility. There's a bigger question here: Why are these stocks trading at premiums to their underlying assets? Circle once traded at parity with its assets under management. BitMine trades at multiples of its Ethereum holdings. These premiums exist because most investors can't easily buy cryptocurrency directly. Even if they could, buying Ethereum in a pension fund isn't as easy as buying shares in the company that owns it. This creates a structural advantage for firms holding crypto assets. ARK's trading demonstrates a deep understanding of this dynamic. They buy when premiums are reasonable and sell when they become extreme. ARK's strategy demonstrates that investing in cryptocurrency stocks is more than a simple buy-and-hold strategy, especially when optimizing for returns. For anyone interested in following ARK's cryptocurrency trading, simply understanding what they're buying isn't enough. You need to understand why they're buying, when they might sell, and where they're headed next. Currently, ARK's cryptocurrency trading offers a useful window into how professional money manages its cryptocurrency exposure.