Cathie Wood’s ARK sells Grayscale Bitcoin Trust shares as BTC hits $34K
Investment firm ARK is selling Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) shares amid a market surge fueled by anticipation of a spot BTC exchange-traded fund (ETF).
On Oct. 23, ARK — headed by pro-Bitcoin (BTC) investment veteran Cathie Wood — sold 100,739 GBTC shares ($2.5 million) from ARK Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW), according to a trade notification seen by Cointelegraph.
The transaction comes as GBTC touched multi-month highs, reaching $24.7 for the first time since May 2022. According to data from TradingView, GBTC has surged more than 200% year-to-date and is up nearly 30% over the past 30 days.
The GBTC sale marks ARK’s first officially reported GBTC transaction since November 2022, when the firm added 450,272 GBTC shares worth $4.5 million to ARKW.
The latest GBTC sale amount accounts for about 2% of all GBTC value in ARKW’s portfolio, or $122.6 million as of Oct. 23. GBTC is the largest asset held by ARKW, accounting for 10.4% of the product’s exposure, with Coinbase and Roku’s shares following with 9% and 7.4%, respectively.
According to Bitcoin advocate Samson Mow, ARK’s latest GBTC sale may be linked to the firm awaiting a decision from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding its filing to list a Bitcoin-based exchange-traded fund (ETF). Grayscale filed a new BTC ETF registration statement with the SEC on Oct. 19, a few days after ARK amended its spot Bitcoin ETF filing on Oct. 11.
“It makes sense for ARK to sell GBTC now as the discount is getting lower and they have their own ETF filing pending,” Mow told Cointelegraph.
Related: Grayscale files for new spot Bitcoin ETF on NYSE Arca
Some online traders have also speculated that if ARK is approved for a spot Bitcoin ETF, the firm would likely put its ETF as the first holding in ARKW and dump GBTC.
$ARKW is the largest owner of $GBTC by WEIGHT at 8.36%. So @JSeyff : If ARK is approved for a Spot Bitcoin ETF, they would likely put that ETF at the #1 holding in ARKW and dump GBTC. There is some obscure rule that if ARK sells GBTC, they have to pay out Capital Gains on it like… pic.twitter.com/LLv7lDa065
— Jay Dilks (@DilksJay) October 14, 2023
ARK did not immediately respond to Cointelegraph’s request for comment.
Apart from selling GBTC, ARK also sold 32,158 Coinbase (COIN) shares from ARKW and 10,455 COIN shares from its ARK Fintech Innovation fund for a total of $3.4 million. The investment firm has continued stacking Robinhood (HOOD) shares, adding 32,158 HOOD shares ($300,000) to ARKW on Oct. 23.
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A Reform UK councillor has defected to the Tories after becoming “uncomfortable” with Nigel Farage’s party.
James Buchan said he wanted to be able to “look my family in the eye and say, ‘that’s not who I am'” after his former party announced plans to scrap indefinite leave to remain.
The Dartford Borough councillor, who won his seat for Reform in a by-election in July, said the policy creates a “huge amount of fear and anxiety”.
He also accused the party of having “a pretty unfortunate way of treating people”.
Read more: What is indefinite leave to remain?
James Buchan. Pic: Dartford Borough Council
In a statement, Mr Buchan said: “I stood for election with the sole aim of working for my community and getting things done for local families.
“Having had the opportunity to see Reform from the inside, I’ve concluded that the party doesn’t really have the experience or ambition to do that.”
He said “relying on rhetoric and slogans isn’t going to help real families in communities” like his and “the more I saw of Reform UK, the more uncomfortable I felt to be part of it”.
“Things like a proposal to remove indefinite leave to remain from all non-EU residents who are working here perfectly legally is an example that could be devastating for decent people who have built a life here and contribute to our country,” he added.
Read more from Sky News:
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Earlier this year Reform announced it would axe indefinite leave to remain and replace it with new visas that would require migrants to reapply to live in the UK as part of plans to tighten immigration.
Conservative council leader Jeremy Kite welcomed Mr Buchan, who represents the Stone House ward, to the party.
“James knows that getting elected isn’t about power, it’s about service and being supportive of people,” he said.
A Reform source told the PA news agency: “He got elected in July 2025 as a Reform councillor. He should resign his seat but he won’t because he knows he will lose under the Tory banner.
“We look forward to winning this seat back as soon as possible.”
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