Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest has made a move into Ethereum by buying 4.77 million shares of BitMine Immersion Technologies Inc. on July 21. The purchase, which is worth around $182 million, was done through a block trade using BitMine’s at-the-market stock issuance program.
BitMine said the money from selling these shares will be used to buy more Ether. The shares were spread across three Ark exchange-traded funds (ETFs): ARK Innovation (ARKK), ARK Next Generation Internet (ARKW), and ARK Fintech Innovation (ARKF), according to the company’s official statement.
BitMine is a Las Vegas-based company that used to focus on Bitcoin mining, but now, it has shifted gears and plans to build a large Ethereum treasury and plans to stake up to 5% of ETH’s total supply. The company already owns over 300,000 ETH, which is worth more than $1 billion.
Last week, BitMine also revealed that Founders Fund, led by Peter Thiel, holds a 9.1% stake in the firm. Founders Fund was part of a private placement in June. Ark’s purchase comes at a time when Ether’s price is going up fast. In one month, ETH jumped 69% and is trading above $3,600. Currently, it trades for $3,701.
Meanwhile, Ark has also reportedly sold $90.6 million worth of Coinbase shares, reducing its position in the crypto exchange. Coinbase had just hit an all-time high of over $437 after the U.S. House passed new rules for stablecoins and digital assets.
Ark has not given any statement about this purchase, but it shows that the firm believes in the growth of Ethereum. Moreover, this is coming at a time when more companies have taken an interest in exploring digital assets and adding them to their balance sheets.
New treasury companies are popping up fast, with one backed by Cantor Fitzgerald and Bitcoin veteran Adam Back set to raise $3 billion in BTC. Cathie Wood has long supported crypto and recently said Bitcoin could hit $1.5 million by 2030. She has also praised Ethereum for powering apps like tokenized payments and DeFi. As the crypto market nears $4 trillion, Ethereum’s role is quickly expanding.
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