Headed by Chief Executive Officer Cathy Wood, investment management giant ARK Invest has put a lot of its chips on cryptocurrency, with vast portions of its assets being held in Bitcoin and ethereum. But in addition to getting in on trades in the crypto market, ARK has been setting its sights on larger targets—specifically, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase Global.
Crypto has exploded the financial world as we know it over the last few years, with the cumulative market cap of all cryptocurrency tokens reaching $2 trillion at the end of the first quarter of 2021. As the leading cryptocurrency exchange in the U.S., Coinbase is at the forefront of crypto transactions, institutionally adopting Bitcoin on its balance sheets and charging a minimum of 1.49% on all trades.
ARK has been insistent on acquiring a larger stake in Coinbase, beginning to purchase a significant number of shares in April of this year. Now, active EFTs managed by ARK make up nearly 2% of the 261.3 million shares of the exchange, making ARK one of Coinbase’s largest institutional owners.
Though some remain wary of the volatility of the crypto market, ARK’s rapid acquisition of Coinbase stock represents a significant bet by a major financial player that crypto is the way of the future.
