Ark Invest Buys 140,000 eToro Shares Worth $9.4M to Add to Its ARKF Fintech ETF

The company sold $7.9 million of ARKB shares from both its ARKF and ARKW funds. Despite the sale, ARKB remains one of the top holdings in both funds.

Ark Invest, the investment firm helmed by Cathie Wood, initiated a position in eToro on Wednesday with the purchase of 140,000 shares, valued at $9.4 million, for its fintech-focused ETF (ARKF).

eToro, the social investing platform, began trading on Nasdaq on Wednesday under the ticker ETOR, experiencing a 29% surge to close at $67.

In addition to its eToro buying spree, Ark also made some adjustments in its spot Bitcoin ETF (ARKB). The company sold $7.9 million of ARKB shares from both its ARKF and ARKW funds. Despite the sale, ARKB remains among the top holdings in both funds. It still contributes 9.5% (roughly $165 million) to ARKW and 6.1% (around $62 million) to ARKF.

Ark's Investment Strategy

Known for investing in new listings, Ark Invest previously picked up 750,000 Coinbase shares when the company went public in April 2021. Ark's policy restricts any single investment to a maximum of 10% of a fund's total value. If eToro shares experience a sharp rise compared to the rest of the portfolio, Ark will engage in rebalancing to stay within that cap.

ARKW, being Ark's top fund in terms of value, had eToro among its 33rd out of 35 positions with an opening stake of 0.93%. Shopify contributes about 9.9% to the fund, followed by Coinbase at 9.7%. The small beginning stake in eToro indicates their cautious optimism regarding the company's growth in the fintech and crypto markets.

Ark Bitcoin ETF Experiences Net Inflows As AUM Hits $4.9B

The Ark's spot Bitcoin ETF experienced net inflows of $5.2 million on Wednesday. More than $2.7 billion in inflows have been collected by ARKB since February 12, 2024. It now holds assets of $4.9 billion, showcasing the strong interest in Bitcoin.

In other news, in addition to eToro, Ark invested in 3IQ’s Solana staking ETF. The firm added $7.6 million in Solana ETFs to both ARKF and ARKW. As a result, Ark now has a total investment in Solana of $20.9 million. The company's bet on Solana demonstrates its efforts to diversify crypto investments even when markets are volatile.