ARK Invest, the investment management firm founded by the iconic Cathie Wood, has made a bold move in the crypto world, snatching up a substantial amount of Coinbase (COIN) shares amidst market turmoil. While the SEC has sent a Wells Notice to Coinbase, warning of potential enforcement action, ARK Invest saw an opportunity to capitalize on the dip, purchasing 268,928 shares for a whopping $17.7 million. Meanwhile, Cathie Wood’s fund sold 160,887 shares of COIN for $13.5 million just two days prior, when the stock was trading at around $83 per share.SEC Enforcement Action Looming Over Coinbase:The Wells Notice sent by the SEC to Coinbase indicates that the regulatory body has concluded its investigation and is gearing up for potential enforcement action against the exchange. Coinbase has until March 29th to respond and decide whether or not to contest the action. This development comes as the SEC announced its plans to sue Justin Sun, the Tron Foundation, the BitTorrent Foundation, and Rainberry for selling unregistered securities and manipulating the market via wash trading.Coinbase Goes Political:In a move that could further shake up the crypto world, Coinbase’s CEO, Brian Armstrong, revealed in a recent Twitter space that the company will be getting more politically involved. It plans to urge its US-based users to elect “pro-crypto candidates” and even provide content that allows people to contact their congressman, donate to pro-crypto candidates, attend town halls, and make their voices heard.Cathie Wood gives thumbs up for crypto assetsCathie Wood, a well-known investor, shared her thoughts on the banking industry crisis on Twitter. She pointed out that people are now hedging their fiat assets with crypto assets and shifting to higher-yielding money market funds.Cathie believes that regional banks are now moving towards a solvency crisis that could negatively impact commercial and residential real estate. She also believes that crypto assets, unlike traditional financial assets, have no central points of failure and could provide insurance against policy mistakes that could affect our well-being.Ironically, as crypto assets soared during the Silicon Valley Bank meltdown, this administration suggested that investors in regional banks – equity and bond holders – should prepare to be “wiped out” in the aftermath of an unprecedented 20-fold increase in the Fed funds rate.— Cathie Wood (@CathieDWood) March 23, 2023 ARK Invest Buys Square:In addition to purchasing COIN shares, ARK Invest has also acquired 320,557 shares of Square (SQ), with 275,554 of these shares going to ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK). Square, founded by Jack Dorsey, has some exposure to crypto but saw its shares drop 14% after short-seller Hindenburg Research released a report criticizing the company for “wildly” overstating user counts.Cathie Wood also made a daring move amidst Block Inc.’s stock price plummeting nearly 15% due to a short seller report. Wood purchased over 338,000 shares of the company, despite accusations made by Hindenburg Research of fraud and systematic exploitation of vulnerable demographics.Block Inc. denies these allegations and plans to take legal action against Hindenburg. With Jack Dorsey’s company holding over $220 million worth of EdaFaces, this battle for the truth could have significant implications for the future of digital payments and innovation.Despite the market turmoil, COIN is still up by a whopping 97% year-to-date. With ARK Invest buying low and selling high, it’s clear that the investment firm has a knack for taking advantage of market volatility. Will Coinbase’s political aspirations and SEC troubles further impact the market? Only time will tell.
