Catgie Wood’s ARK Invest added roughly $8.21 million of Bullish shares across ARKK and ARKW on Tuesday, bringing its total stake in the exchange to just under $130 million across ARK funds.
Key Takeaways:
- ARK filed purchases of ~160,000 Bullish shares (120,609 in ARKK and 40,574 in ARKW) totaling about $8.21M, lifting ARK’s combined Bullish holding to roughly $129M across ARKK, ARKW and ARKF.
- Bullish (BLSH) is currently trading around $51.36 (8:30AM UTC). Prices are far below the IPO intraday high of $118 from Aug. 13.
- Technical gauges vary by provider; short-term RSI readings range roughly from the mid-30s to high-50s depending on data vendor, suggesting mixed and provider-dependent momentum.
According to an ARK filing published Tuesday, the firm picked up approximately 120,609 shares for ARKK and 40,574 shares for ARKW, worth around $8.21 million in aggregate. This totaled to over $160,000 Bullish shares across ARKK and ARKW, as per Cointelegraph while referring to ARK Invest’s recently published filings.
ARK Invest acquired more than 160,000 shares of Bullish through its ARKK and ARKW funds. Source: Ark Invest
The purchases follow earlier ARK buys in August and September as the manager has been actively sizing positions in names tied to the institutional crypto ecosystem. With this trade ARK’s cumulative stake in Bullish stands at roughly 2.52 million shares across ARK Innovation (ARKK), ARK Next Generation Internet (ARKW) and ARK Fintech Innovation (ARKF), putting the dollar value of those holdings near $129 million. On-chain reports and analysts on X (formerly Twitter) are highlighting the firm’s nearing $130M milestone for their total holdings, but also noted the 57% drop of Bullish shares from their peak.
Bullish Shares Still Far Below IPO High
Bullish, the Peter Thiel-backed crypto exchange that trades under ticker BLSH, made a noticeable jump at its market debut in August, briefly touching $118, but has since given back a large share of that gain and was trading near $51.36 at the latest NYSE close, according to real-time data from Yahoo Finance.
ARK’s pattern (big early allocation, partial profit taking, then re-accumulation) suggests the manager is attempting to rebuild exposure after the post-IPO drawdown while remaining nimble to short-term price action. Market coverage of Bullish remains mixed: Jefferies and JPMorgan pulled neutral/hold stances, while Cantor Fitzgerald has a more bullish/overweight view.
Institutional Crypto Bets Back in Focus
ARK’s continued buying signals conviction in long-term institutional adoption narratives tied to crypto infrastructure: exchange operator exposure is a direct play on trading volumes, custody, and institutional flow. For readers tracking crypto investment allocations, ARK’s behavior illustrates how active managers may rebalance into volatility rather than purely selling on weakness. The move also keeps Bullish squarely in the spotlight ahead of the company’s upcoming quarterly results, which is an event that could re-test investor sentiment.
Outlook: All Eyes on Earnings and ARK’s Next Move
Watch for two near-term drivers. First is the Bullish’s Q2 results, and second is if there are any follow-on ETF/manager filings that show whether ARK continues to increase exposure. Price action will likely remain volatile; traders should note the post-IPO drawdown already exceeds 50% from the intraday high, and technical readings are mixed depending on the data provider.
Summary
Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest purchased about 160,000 Bullish shares (~$8.21M) across ARKK and ARKW, bringing its total stake close to $130M across ARK funds. The move lifts ARK’s cumulative Bullish holdings to ~2.52M shares, even as Bullish (BLSH) trades at ~$51, far below its $118 IPO high. Analysts note ARK’s buybacks reflect conviction in long-term crypto infrastructure growth, with Bullish positioned as a proxy for institutional adoption. While shares remain down ~57% from their peak, ARK’s accumulation signals confidence ahead of Bullish’s next quarterly results.
