Ark Invest Buys the Dip: $2.44M in Coinbase as Tech Rout Wipes Nasdaq 5.5%

Ark Invest bought 17,806 Coinbase shares worth $2.44 million through its Ark Innovation ETF on Thursday, according to the firm's latest trading disclosure, even as the exchange's stock lost 9.69% to close at $136.82 in a broad U.S. equity rout.

The Cathie Wood-led investment firm didn't stop at Coinbase. Its disclosure shows it bought the dip across some of the market's hardest-hit names while trimming two smaller crypto-linked positions.

What did Ark buy and sell?

The moves, all executed Thursday, break down as follows:

• Bought: 17,806 Coinbase (COIN) shares worth $2.44 million, via the Ark Innovation ETF
• Sold: 109,522 Bullish shares worth $2.27 million
• Sold: 119,841 Bitmine shares worth $2.28 million
• Bought: 252,592 Nvidia shares worth $45.9 million
• Bought: 48,984 AMD shares worth $19.8 million
• Bought: 393,774 SpaceX shares worth $48.7 million

The crypto purchases were contrarian in timing. Coinbase closed down 9.69% at $136.82. Bullish fell 10.46%. Bitmine slumped 12.56%.

Why were markets selling off so hard?

Thursday was the worst session for U.S. technology stocks since April 2025. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite closed down 5.52%, the S&P 500 lost 4.36%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 3.44%, according to CNN. The rout erased post-election gains across major indices.

AI-related equities took the heaviest damage. Democrats' midterm election victory sparked fears of a potential slowdown in AI development. Nvidia shares fell 9.26%, wiping out their gains for the year. AMD plunged 17.26%, though it remained up 81% year-to-date. SpaceX dropped 9%.

That backdrop makes Ark's activity a textbook dip-buying operation: the firm put roughly $114.4 million to work in Nvidia, AMD and SpaceX combined, plus $2.44 million in Coinbase, while exiting about $4.55 million of Bullish and Bitmine exposure.

How deep did the crypto drawdown go?

Bitcoin traded down 5.8% over the past 24 hours at $75,908 as of 11:20 p.m. ET Thursday, after touching a local low near $75,350 earlier in the day, according to The Block's crypto price page. Ethereum fell harder, dropping 8.2% to $2,234.

The pressure on Coinbase shares compounds an already difficult stretch for the stock, and Ark's decision to add exposure while cutting Bullish and Bitmine suggests the firm is differentiating within its crypto-linked holdings rather than reducing the sector wholesale.

The sizing matters. Ark's Coinbase purchase, at $2.44 million, is small relative to its combined $65.7 million in semiconductor purchases. The Bullish and Bitmine sales, worth a combined $4.55 million, roughly offset the Coinbase buy. In net terms, Thursday's disclosure reads as a levered bet on AI infrastructure names with a modest top-up of the largest U.S. crypto exchange.

Did the sell-off spread beyond U.S. markets?

It did, and quickly. Asian markets extended the rout on Friday morning. South Korea's Kospi was down 3.6% around noon after plunging nearly 9% earlier in the session — a move steep enough to trigger a brief trading halt. Japan's Nikkei 225 dropped 5.3% during the morning session.

For crypto-market watchers, the correlation is the operative detail. Coinbase, Bullish and Bitmine all fell in line with or harder than the broader tech complex, and bitcoin and ethereum moved down in sympathy. Thursday's session is another data point that crypto equities and the tokens themselves now trade as part of the same risk complex as AI and big tech — a linkage that cuts both ways when the Nasdaq reverses.

Ark's next trading disclosure, expected Friday, will show whether the firm kept buying into the Asian-session weakness or stood pat.