Ark Invest Buys $18 Million In Circle Shares As Stock Slides 41% In A Month

Ark Invest purchased 287,609 shares of Circle Internet Group on Wednesday across its ARKK, ARKW and ARKF exchange-traded funds. At the day’s closing price of $61.95, the purchase totaled roughly $17.8 million. Circle shares closed down 1.1% Wednesday after falling nearly 18% the day before, marking one of its worst single day drops in recent months. The stock is now down 41% over the past month.

OUSD Launch Triggers Sell-Off

The sharp decline followed the launch of Open USD, a new stablecoin backed by more than 140 companies including Visa, Stripe, Mastercard, BlackRock and Coinbase. Investors weighed the competitive risk to Circle’s USDC, particularly given Coinbase earns about half of USDC’s reserve income through its distribution deal with Circle.

Analysts Say Threat Is Overstated

Bernstein analysts kept their Outperform rating on Circle Wednesday, maintaining a $190 price target and arguing Coinbase is unlikely to move away from Circle. William Blair analysts similarly called the sell-off an overreaction, pointing to Circle’s first mover advantage and payments infrastructure. Ark also bought 27,740 shares of crypto exchange Bullish, worth about $700,000, as Bullish stock rose 7.7% on the day.