YEREVAN (CoinChapter.com) — Ark Invest, the asset management firm led by Cathie Wood, has dumped all of its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) shares. At the time of the sale, its holdings were valued at $200 million. According to Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas, the firm will invest half the proceeds, around $100 million, in ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO).
BITO is only temporary for ARK Invest
As per the recent post by Balchunas on X (formerly) Twitter, Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) shares made up the largest chunk of Ark Invest’s holdings until a month ago. However, in a swift move, the asset management firm has decided to part ways with the securities giant.
As a result of its diversification, it has become the second-largest holder of ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) behind the Goldman Sachs Group.
However, Bloomberg analysts believe the recent interest in BITO is only temporary. According to him, it is “a temporary parking spot” before Wood diverts the funds to the firm’s in-house ARK Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW) and its flagship exchange-traded fund, ARKB.
Ark Invest diversifying its portfolio from Grayscale Shares
While the complete offload of GBTC shares may come as a surprise, it is not the first time Cathie Woods has dumped its shares. ARKW sold 100,739 GBTC shares in October before offloading an additional 809,441 in December.
At the same time, starting in October, ARK Invest also began dumping Coinbase (COIN) shares. By early December, ARK Invest had dumped over $50 million of COIN shares in a clear sign of portfolio diversification.
However, in the sixth such instance early this month, ARK sold 10,218 Coinbase shares at a cumulative value of $1.4 million. Subsequently, it used the funds from the sale to invest in Robinhood Shares (NASDAQ: HOOD).
Meanwhile, ARK Invest Daily, an account on X that tracks the fund’s activities, points out that the company sold some of its GBTC shares last week.
They are no longer reflected in the ARKW ARK Next Generation Internet ETF holdings. However, as one analyst pointed out, the firm still had some GBTC shares left (4.28% of its portfolio), which have disappeared. The company has not shown data that suggests it has sold them.
At least a dozen spot Bitcoin ETF applications are currently pending with the SEC. Experts have already suggested a 90% chance of some of these getting approval early next year. Cathie Woods also recently said that she expects the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to approve it by Jan. 10, 2024.
The recent diversification in ARK’s portfolio comes amid these growing speculations.
