Cathie Wood Cashes Out: Dumps Circle (CRCL) Stock at Peak Frenzy—Was It Genius or FOMO Flip?

Cathie Wood's ARK just pulled the plug on Circle (CRCL) during its parabolic rally—sparking debate on whether it's tactical profit-taking or premature cold feet.

The move comes as CRCL defies gravity, up 300% YTD. Was Wood playing chess while retail traders chased momentum?

One thing's certain: When Wall Street's crypto darling exits stage left, someone's left holding the bag. Probably the same guys who bought her Tesla shares at $900.

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Shares of the stablecoin issuer are down 15% in late afternoon trading on June 24. The sharp and sudden decline comes after CRCL stock enjoyed a meteoric rise since its June 5 initial public offering (IPO). From an initial offer price of $31 a share, Circle’s stock skyrocketed nearly 865% to hit a peak of just under $300 a share.

But after hitting that peak on June 23, CRCL stock is now falling fast. And at least one well-known investor has been ahead of the curve with Circle. Famed investor Cathie Wood had been selling CRCL stock throughout its meteoric rise, booking profits as the share price steadily ROSE in recent trading sessions, including as the stock hit a top.

Well-Timed Sales

Data shows that Wood’s ARK Innovation (ARKK) exchange-traded fund (ETF) has been selling CRCL stock throughout its run. The actively managed ETF, which publishes its holdings daily, sold nearly 307,000 shares of Circle on June 23 just as it peaked, netting Wood’s investment firm more than $90 million.

A week ago, ARK Invest sold a total of 1.25 million shares of CRCL stock, netting an estimated $243 million, according to company data. However, while Wood has taken money off the table with Circle, her firm, Ark Invest, still owns some CRCL stock. The sales to date represent about one third of ARK Invest’s total Circle holdings.

Is BTC a Buy?

Most Wall Street firms don’t offer ratings or price targets on cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, so we’ll look instead at its three-month performance. As one can see in the chart below, the price of BTC has risen 14.74% in the last 12 weeks.