ARK Invests in Grayscale Bitcoin Trust as BTC Hits $34K

ARK Crypto and GBTC Shares Surge

Cryptocurrency investors have been eagerly awaiting the launch of a spot BTC exchange-traded fund (ETF) for some time, and the anticipation has caused a surge in Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) shares. Investment firm ARK, headed by pro-Bitcoin (BTC) investment veteran Cathie Wood, has responded to this surge by selling 100,739 GBTC shares ($2.5 million) from its ARK Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW) on Oct. 23.

Data from TradingView shows that GBTC has risen more than 200% year-to-date and is up nearly 30% over the past 30 days, reaching a high of $24.7 for the first time since May 2022. This marks the first officially reported GBTC transaction by ARK since November 2022, when the firm added 450,272 GBTC shares worth $4.5 million to ARKW.

ARKW’s Latest GBTC Sale

As of Oct. 23, the latest GBTC sale amount accounts for about 2% of all GBTC value in ARKW’s portfolio, or $122.6 million. GBTC is the largest asset held by ARKW, making up 10.4% of the product’s exposure, with Coinbase and Roku’s shares following with 9% and 7.4%, respectively.

According to Bitcoin advocate Samson Mow, ARK’s recent GBTC sale might be related to the firm awaiting a decision from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding its filing to list a crypto-based ETF. Grayscale filed a new Bitcoin ETF registration statement with the SEC on Oct. 19, a few days after ARK amended its spot Bitcoin ETF filing on Oct. 11.

“It makes sense for ARK to sell GBTC now as the discount is getting lower and they have their own ETF filing pending,” Mow told Cointelegraph.

Some online traders have also speculated that if ARK is approved for a spot Bitcoin ETF, the firm would likely put its ETF as the first holding in ARKW and dump GBTC.

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ARK did not immediately respond to Cointelegraph’s request for comment when asked about the latest crypto news, such as the Coinbase crypto and the crypto crisis. However, the investment firm has been actively involved in the crypto market, selling 32,158 Coinbase shares from ARKW and 10,455 Coinbase shares from its ARK Fintech Innovation fund for a total of $3.4 million. Moreover, ARK has recently added 32,158 worth $300,000 of Robinhood shares to ARKW on Oct. 23.