ARK Invest Sells an Additional $146.3M in Circle Shares Following Explosive IPO Growth

ARK Invest has recently offloaded another chunk of shares in Circle (CRCL) across its ETFs, just two weeks after the stablecoin issuer’s prominent IPO. The most significant reduction was seen in the flagship ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK), which sold 490,549 shares, or about 1.8% of its portfolio. Both the ARK Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW) and the ARK Fintech Innovation ETF (ARKF) also decreased their holdings, selling 75,018 and 43,608 shares, respectively. These sales totaled approximately $146.3 million, based on the closing price of $240.28 per share on June 20. This marks the third and largest wave of CRCL share selling since the IPO, following earlier sales totaling $50 million and $44.7 million. The move comes after a significant rally in Circle’s stock, which debuted at $31 on June 5 and skyrocketed to $240 by the closing bell that Friday, reflecting a gain of over 670% in just over two weeks. This IPO was the most remarkable for any U.S. company raising $500 million or more since 1980. Investors have been motivated by favorable regulatory developments, including the Senate’s passage of the GENIUS Act, which aims to establish clearer guidelines for stablecoins.

While reducing its stake in Circle, ARK has shifted focus outside the crypto sector. Across its various ETFs, the firm has added shares of companies such as chipmaker AMD, e-commerce leader Shopify, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company. Circle’s USDC stablecoin currently ranks as the second-largest by market capitalization, with $61.26 billion in circulation, while Tether’s USDT continues to dominate the market with $155.88 billion in circulation.

Support for USDC is rapidly on the rise. Coinbase Derivatives recently announced a collaboration with Nodal Clear to incorporate the stablecoin as collateral in regulated U.S. futures markets, while Shopify is facilitating USDC payments through Base.