Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest sold shares in two crypto firms on April 17, offloading $2.57 million worth amid a choppy week for digital assets. The firm dumped 11,465 shares of Circle Internet Group, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, for $1.21 million. It also shed 31,417 shares of Bullish, the Peter Thiel-backed exchange favored by institutions, fetching $1.36 million. Circle’s stock dipped 1.44% that day to $105.91, battered by backlash over its handling of a Drift Protocol exploit and a fresh class-action lawsuit from affected users. Bullish climbed 5% to $43.51, riding broader market hopes for calm in West Asia.
Quiet trading preceded the moves. After snapping up $12.7 million in Robinhood stock on April 7, ARK sat out April 14 and 15 entirely. Then came the sales. Same day, Wood pivoted hard: $2.54 million into Netflix shares, 26,161 of them, even as the streamer tanked 9.72% post-earnings to $97.31. And a whopping $11.96 million in Alamar Biosciences, a protein detection startup that popped 33% on debut.
Pattern here. ARK’s crypto dance isn’t new. Just weeks ago, in late March, it unloaded 495,000 shares of its own ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF—$11.2 million worth—from multiple funds, trimming holdings to about $100 million and dropping ARKB to the 35th spot among 96 positions, as reported by MEXC News. That came alongside $90 million in tech sales like Meta and Nvidia, per Decrypt. Markets wobbled then, too, with Iran tensions shaking equities and Bitcoin.
But ARK flips fast. Post-selloff, it bought dips in crypto-linked names: Robinhood, Bullish, Coinbase, even its ARKB, according to Stocktwits. Earlier, February saw $17.8 million into Bullish while dumping $17.4 million Coinbase amid Bitcoin’s slide to $60,000, The Block noted. And March 20? $5.9 million Circle trim, right before a crash, via TheStreet.
Sells at peaks. Routine for ARK’s actively managed ETFs, which cap single-stock weights at 10% to dodge concentration risk. Coinbase felt it hard: $13.3 million sold in July 2025 after records, The Block tracked, plus $8.7 million ARKB from the Next Generation Internet fund. Same playbook in June: $373 million Circle buy on debut, but $17.1 million ARKB offload, with Coinbase and Robinhood sales totaling $57.9 million.
Bitcoin Bull Stays Vocal, Even as Trades Trim
Wood preaches long-term. Bitcoin’s cycle drawdown? Shallowest ever, she told CNBC in January, eyeing upside after possible $80,000-$90,000 retest, per Yahoo Finance. Ditch gold for Bitcoin, she urged recently—target $1.5 million. ARK favors direct exposure via ARKB over proxies like MicroStrategy.
X chatter echoes the tension. On April 18, @WOLF_Bitcoin_ flagged ARK’s ARKW sales of Circle, Bullish, and CoreWeave, calling it crypto trimming. Trackers like @ArkkDaily post daily tallies, showing Wood’s $113 million Bitcoin buy frenzy days prior. Yet sells persist.
What’s driving it? Rebalancing amid volatility. Crypto stocks surged—then stuttered. USDC holds $78.63 billion market cap, 25% of stablecoins after Tether. Bullish courts institutions. But exploits, lawsuits, geopolitics bite. ARK rotates to AI, biotech, streaming. Netflix beat Q1 revenue at $12.25 billion, profit $5.28 billion. Alamar debuted strong at $1.53 billion valuation.
Larger forces at play. Spot Bitcoin ETFs pulled $2.4 billion inflows since launch, ARKB at $4.7 billion AUM despite outflows. Institutions pile in—BlackRock, Fidelity—while ARK nimbly trades edges. Wood’s conviction holds: Bitcoin to $1.2 million by 2030, she forecasted. Trades? Tactical. Holdings stay hefty: Circle 4.2% portfolio weight, topping Coinbase.
Fragment. Profit-taking discipline.
And rotation rewards. ARKK, ARKW lag benchmarks sometimes, but Wood bets on disruption. Crypto’s no exception. Recent X posts hype ARK’s ETF filings, buys. Sells grab headlines. Reality: balanced exposure in turbulent times.
Markets watch. Bitcoin hovers. Will ARK buy back dips? History says yes. But for now, cash from Circle and Bullish fuels fresh bets. Wood’s game: long disruption, short complacency.
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