Coinbase climbs 6% after Cathie Wood's ARK funds show $246 million investment in the crypto exchange
- Shares of Coinbase rose as much as 6% on Thursday, following its turbulent trading debut.
- Three of famed investor Cathie Wood's funds snapped up close to $250 million worth of shares.
- At Coinbase's closing price on Wednesday of $328.28 per share, ARK holdings are worth about $246 million.
Shares of Coinbase climbed as much as 6% on Thursday following its debut on the Nasdaq on Wednesday, after various funds managed by Cathie Wood's ARK Invest snapped up around $250 million worth of shares.
The stock pared gains in early trading, rising 1.1% to $331.75 at 10:35 a.m. in New York.
The Ark Innovation ETF, Ark Fintech Innovation ETF, and Ark Next Generation ETF together bought a total of 749,205 shares of the cryptocurrency exchange during its much-anticipated debut, according to daily fund trading summary data on the fund's website.
While Tesla remains the top holdings of two of its funds - ARKW and ARKK - the star stock picker sold around $170 million shares of the electric car company, which is also known for its bitcoin exposure. Tesla in February invested $1.5 billion in the popular cryptocurrency.
Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the US, opened at $381, spiked to $429, then tumbled below its debut price, even dipping as low as $310.
Still, at Wednesday's close, it was worth more than major companies such as GM, FedEx, and Twitter
The listing of Coinbase was celebrated by many cryptocurrency bulls who view the move as a milestone for the digital currency ecosystem that has long faced scrutiny and skepticism.
"Coinbase's direct listing on Nasdaq is a major step forward in bringing legitimacy and mainstream awareness to the digital asset sector as a whole," Brad Kam, co-founder of Unstoppable Domains, told Insider.
"For the next billion cryptocurrency users, it will be critical that we focus on ease of use. Millions in funds have been lost due to typos in hard-to-read wallet addresses or simply sending the wrong coin to the wrong wallet," he said.