Cathie Wood just bought shares in Grayscale's bitcoin trust for the first time in 16 months at a deep discount

• Cathie Wood's ARK Invest just bought up shares of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust for the first time in nearly a year and a half.
• The ARK Next Generation Internet ETF bought 315,000 shares of the fund on Monday.

Cathie Wood's ARK Invest on Monday snapped up shares of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust for the first time since June 2021, as the famed invesment manager goes bargain hunting in the downtrodden cryptocurrency market.

According to Bloomberg, ARK's Next Generation Internet ETF bought 315,000 shares of Grayscale, or about $2.83 million worth based on Tuesday afternon's price of $9 per share. Grayscale has underperformed its underlying bitcoin holdings for a long time, even before the turmoil stemming from the crash of FTX washed over the market.

At current prices, buying into the trust is comparable to buying bitcoin at about $11,000 versus the $16,000 that the actual token is trading for. That represents an attractive proposition for Wood's ETF if Grayscale closes some of the wide gap with spot bitcoin prices.

Cryptocurrencies widely are feeling the pain from last week's shocking fall of FTX, the exchange run by crypto whiz kid Sam Bankman-Fried. In a meandering saga that began with a run on FTX's native FTT token, the exchange ultimately filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last Friday after failing to secure a rescue from rivals.

Bitcoin swiftly plunged more than 12% to its lowest point in over two years, briefly trading below $16,000. As of 12:55 p.m. ET on Monday, the world's largest crypto by market cap is trading at $16,577.