In the latest development, Ark Invest sold 13,780 Coinbase shares, worth $3.9 million, from its Fintech Innovation ETF (ARKF) on Wednesday, after Coinbase’s price dropped 10% following the Federal Reserve’s hawkish stance.
One Of The Largest Coinbase Stock Sales
This is one of Ark Invest’s largest Coinbase stock sales since it sold $2.8 million worth on September 23. Ark’s strategy generally aims to prevent any single stock from making up more than 10% of an ETF’s portfolio to ensure diversification, which means they may continue adjusting their holdings based on Coinbase’s performance.
As of December 18, Coinbase is the second-largest holding in Ark Invest’s ARKF ETF, making up 9.9% of the fund, just behind Spotify. ARKF’s Coinbase shares are worth about $110 million, and the fund has gained 54% this year.
Recently, the Fed announced a 25 bps rate cut yesterday in line with market expectations. However, Chair Jerome Powell’s subsequent speech introduced a hawkish tone, cutting the outlook for 2025 rate reductions from four to just two. This unexpected shift unnerved the markets, despite steady signs of sticky inflation in recent months.
Coinbase’s stock traded for $279.86 at market close on Wednesday, down 10.2% for the day. Bitcoin and the broader market also reacted to Powell’s hawkish stance. Bitcoin fell around 9% from above $108,000 before Powell’s remarks to below $100,000 at one point before recovering. It is currently trading at $100,470, down over 3% in the past 24 hours.
The market reacted to Jerome Powell’s statement that the Fed can’t own bitcoin without Congress approval, seeing it as a hurdle to Trump’s bitcoin plan. However, Trump’s plan, along with Sen. Cynthia Lummis’s proposed bill, aims to have the U.S. Treasury buy one million bitcoins over five years, not the Fed.
Despite bearish market sentiment, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs saw strong inflows, adding $275.3 million on Wednesday and extending their positive streak to 15 days, totaling over $6.7 billion. U.S. spot Ethereum ETFs also saw inflows, adding $2.5 million and extending their streak to 18 days with nearly $2.5 billion in total.
Looking ahead, heightened volatility is expected as markets price in elevated expectations for Donald Trump’s upcoming presidency. Nevertheless, despite short-term turbulence, the long-term outlook remains bullish.
