Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest Sells $146M in Circle Stock Amid Price Rally

Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest has continued to offload shares in stablecoin issuer Circle (CRCL) as the stock experiences a dramatic post-IPO rally. On Friday, ARK sold 609,175 CRCL shares across three of its ETFs, securing $146.2 million.

This move came as Circle’s stock surged 20.4% on the day, closing at $240.30 — a staggering 248% increase from its debut price of $69 on the New York Stock Exchange on June 5. Despite this rapid appreciation, ARK’s strategy appears focused on profit-taking, selling a total of 1.25 million CRCL shares over the past week for approximately $243 million.

Daily CRCL Offloads from Three Major ARK Funds

Friday’s sale marked ARK Invest’s third consecutive daily dump of Circle stock, continuing a trend of significant divestment. The bulk of Friday’s sale came from ARK’s flagship ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK), which offloaded 490,549 shares.

Meanwhile, ARK Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW) and ARK Fintech Innovation ETF (ARKF) sold 75,018 and 43,608 shares, respectively.

Earlier in the week, ARK sold $52 million in CRCL on Monday and followed up with a $45 million sale on Tuesday. Collectively, the past week’s sales amount to nearly 29% of the 4.49 million shares ARK acquired during Circle’s public listing.

Despite the heavy selling, ARK remains among the top shareholders of CRCL. As of June 20, ARK is the eighth-largest holder of CRCL, according to Bloomberg Terminal data. The firm still retains $750.4 million worth of Circle shares, demonstrating confidence in the company’s long-term value, even amid the short-term profit-taking strategy.

Circle Becomes Top Holding in ARKW Fund

Circle has swiftly become a core asset in ARK’s portfolios, especially in the ARKW fund, where it now represents the top holding with a weight of 7.8%.

While ARK trims its position to capitalize on rapid gains, other major stakeholders remain heavily invested. IDG-Accel China Capital Fund II holds the largest stake at 23.3 million shares, followed by General Catalyst Group Management with 20.1 million and investor James Breyer with 16.7 million shares.

The active trading around CRCL suggests that while ARK is securing profits, Circle’s role in the crypto-fintech sector continues to attract strong institutional interest.