Ark Funds Spends $246M on Coinbase Stocks

According to an Ark Funds email, the firm bought a total of 749,205 COIN, totaling $246 million.

Ark Funds bought the stocks through three of its main funds: Ark Innovation ETF, Ark Fintech Innovation ETF, and Ark Next Generation ETF. COIN was trading at $328.28 per share at market close yesterday, which puts their stake at around $246 million. 

Coinbase went public on NASDAQ yesterday after months of anticipation. Trading opened at $381 per share and quickly climbed above $400, putting its valuation over $100 billion. It then cooled off amid a market downturn across many tech stocks. 

NASDAQ had set a $250 reference price for COIN on Tuesday, though futures traded as high as $640 on FTX. They took a violent drop in the lead-up to market open when it was revealed that the indicative price was $340.

Binance, the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange, also listed the stock and congratulated its rival. 

Coinbase is the first major cryptocurrency company to go public. The crypto community united to celebrate the event, with many participating in the listing itself. Following the listing, the exchange’s co-founder and CEO Brian Armstrong posted a tweetstorm of his journey building the company, extending his thanks to its supporters. “Today is a big day for Coinbase and the cryptoeconomy that we’re a part of,” he said. 

1/ Today is a big moment for @coinbase as we become a public company. But it’s also a big one for crypto. This all started with the Bitcoin whitepaper 12 years ago, a deceptively simple 9 page document by Satoshi Nakamoto that ignited a global movement. https://t.co/4pE006XTFP

— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) April 14, 2021

Wood founded Ark Funds in 2014. The firm typically targets key technological trends, though this is its first foray into the cryptocurrency world.