Ark Invest buys $25.7m in Block shares, offloads $28m in GBTC

Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest bought 347,692 shares of Block for $25.7 million while offloading 809,441 GBTC shares worth about $27.95 million.

On Dec. 18, ARK Invest, led by Cathie Wood, bought $25.7 million in Block Inc (SQ) stock after the publicly traded firm’s shares reached a 4-month peak in a move analysts connect to the recent uptick in Bitcoin (BTC) price.

The purchase involved a total of 347,692 Block shares, a provider of financial services and digital payments, through ARK Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW).

During the trading day, Block shares reached a high of $74.77 but eventually settled at $73.88, marking a slight decline of 0.44%.

On the same day, Ark also offloaded around 809,441 Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) shares worth $27.6 million from the same ARKW ETF, the biggest sale in more than a year.

GBTC traded for $34.54 at market close on Monday as Ark capitalized on recent gains. However, GBTC shares are currently trading 39% lower than their peak of $56.70 in February 2021.

The recent transactions by ARK Invest highlight the dynamic nature of investment strategies in the cryptocurrency sector. Just last week, Wood sold $14.9 million worth of GBTC shares amidst a slight decline in the crypto rally.

She has previously indicated that the potential approval of a U.S. Bitcoin ETF could challenge GBTC’s market position. Notably, ARK Invest is also awaiting approval from the SEC to launch its own Bitcoin ETF.