Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest Buys the Coinbase Dip

Table of Contents

• The SEC’s Crypto Witch Hunt

As most investors offloaded Coinbase shares following the SEC’s lawsuit, Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest took the opportunity to buy the dip.

Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest knows when to grab an opportunity and run. After the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced a lawsuit against crypto exchange Coinbase, three funds of Ark Investment Management added almost 420,000 Coinbase (COIN) shares.

According to its trade disclosures, the flagship Ark Innovation ETF (NYSE: ARKK) added around 330,000 Coinbase shares, worth about $17 million based on the closing price on Tuesday. Ark Next Generation Internet ETF (NYSE: ARKW) bought about 53,900 shares, worth $2.8 million, and Ark Fintech Innovation ETF (NYSE: ARKF) bought approximately 35,700 shares, worth about $1.8 million, Forbes reports.

Throughout Tuesday, Coinbase’s stock dropped 11.4%, with share prices dipping from $58.26 to $51.61.

Tuesday’s purchase marks the first since May 3 and brought Ark’s total Coinbase holdings to 11.44 million shares, a position worth approximately $590 million.

The SEC’s Crypto Witch Hunt

This week, the SEC launched an attack on crypto by suing Coinbase and rival exchange Binance.

According to the agency, Coinbase allegedly acted as an unregistered securities exchange, broker, and clearing agency, charging it for “the unregistered offer and sale of securities in connection with its staking-as-a-service program.”

It further deems at least 13 crypto assets on Coinbase’s platform as “crypto asset securities.” Among the SEC’s extensive list of so-called securities are Cardano (ADA), Polygon (MATIC), and Solana (SOL).

The SEC’s declaration of some tokens as securities has caused doubt in the industry. Crypto trading platform Robinhood is reportedly reconsidering its crypto offerings by “actively reviewing” the SEC’s analysis “to determine what if any, action to take.”

Coinbase CEO and co-founder Brian Armstrong welcomed the lawsuit and said a court battle would help establish much-needed clarity around industry rules and regulations.

Regarding the SEC complaint against us today, we're proud to represent the industry in court to finally get some clarity around crypto rules.

Remember:
1. The SEC reviewed our business and allowed us to become a public company in 2021.
2. There is no path to "come in and…

— Brian Armstrong 🛡️ (@brian_armstrong) June 6, 2023

Before filing suit against Coinbase, the securities regulator accused Binance and its CEO, Changpeng Zhao, of allegedly mishandling customer funds and lying to investors and regulators about its operations. The SEC also accused Binance of operating as an unregistered securities exchange.

Binance and its CEO denied the claims.

The agency doubled down its regulatory action against Binance and filed an emergency application for a temporary restraining order to freeze the assets of two of Binance’s US units.

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.