ARK Dumps Coinbase & Roblox—Doubles Down on Tom Lee’s High-Stakes ETH Bet
Cathie Wood's ARK just made its boldest crypto pivot yet—slashing stakes in two fan-favorite tech plays to back Fundstrat's Ethereum moonshot. The move screams conviction (or desperation) as institutional ETH adoption hits fever pitch.
Wall Street's favorite disruptor fund isn't just dipping toes—it's cannonballing into DeFi's deep end. While Coinbase bulls lick wounds, Wood's crew sees brighter sparks in Lee's Ethereum infrastructure play. Never mind that 63% of ETH investors still don't understand smart contracts—when has ignorance stopped a good narrative?
One trader's 'strategic reallocation' is another's panic rotation. With ARK's flagship fund still down 28% from 2021's peak, this ETH gamble smells like redemption play meets Hail Mary. The real question? Whether Wood's betting on tech—or just chasing the last crypto trade that hasn't wrecked her returns.
Restructuring of Assets
The CEO and founder of investment management firm ARK Invest, Cathie Wood, has shifted the company’s portfolios, selling various shares in favor of the ETH treasury company, Bitmine Immersion Technologies (BMNR), helmed by Fundstrat’s Tom Lee.
This purchase of Bitmine stock marks the first for ARK Invest since the firm’s shift from a Bitcoin to an ethereum treasury entity.
Three funds managed by ARK — the ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK), Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW), and Fintech Innovation ETF (ARKF) — have cumulatively sold 218,986 shares of Coinbase (COIN) stock, valued at approximately $90.5 million. This is the third sale of Coinbase stock the company has undergone over the last month.
According to Monday’s trading update, 463,293 shares of the gaming firm Roblox (RBLX) were also removed from the portfolio, which were worth approximately $57.7 million.
The three funds acquired 4.4 million shares of BMNR, valued at approximately $174 million, which now comprise 1.5% of each of the individual ETFs.
A few other notable exchanges included in the update are Robinhood and Block Inc. stock converted to Bitmine, along with purchases of various company stocks, including AMD, DoorDash, Airbnb, and others.
Source: ARK Invest
Bitmine Immersion Tech, the company led by Tom Lee, is currently ranked number two in the world for Ether reserves, with over 300,000 ETH valued at around $1.1 billion at the time of printing, according to data from StrategicEthReserve. It trails only SharpLink Gaming, with 360.6K ETH.
Ethereum Stealing The Spotlight
Wood’s ARK is not the only company that has had a change of heart and started focusing on the world’s largest altcoin.
Bit Digital Inc., publicly traded on the NASDAQ (BTBT), is an ex-Bitcoin mining company that shifted to an Ethereum-native treasury after raising $172 million in public equity and selling the 280 BTC it had in its coffers. Later, the entity accumulated approximately 100,603 ETH.
SBET, as mentioned above, established its reserve by raising $425 million through a private placement deal and an additional $79 million via an at-the-market (ATM) equity offering.
