ARK Invest boosted Grayscale Bitcoin stake by 850% last year

ARK Invest is now holding $270 million worth of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) stock, up from $8.5 million just one year ago.

This represents a huge jump in Bitcoin exposure for ARK’s actively-managed ‘internet fund’ (ARKW), an ETF investing in assets that benefit from advances in internet infrastructure.

Today, GBTC makes up almost 4% of ARKW’s $7.26 billion portfolio. GBTC is its fifth biggest holding ahead of Netflix and Spotify — even stock exchange giant Intercontinental Exchange.

GBTC was almost a novelty for ARK

One year ago, GBTC was practically buried in ARK’s ETF catalogue.

But ARKW multiplied its share count nearly 10 times in the past 12 months by adding 6.5 million shares, all while GBTC stock jumped 250% along with Bitcoin.

This led the value of ARKW’s position in Grayscale’s flagship trust to explode by more than 3,000%.

Now, ARK controls a 1% stake in GBTC, making it by far ETF’s largest institutional shareholder.

Bitcoin and Tesla

The chart below maps ARKW’s performance over the past year against its current top five holdings. There’s also Bitcoin, the S&P 500, NASDAQ 100, and ARK’s flagship ‘innovation fund’ ARKK.

A few things to note: Tesla was ARKW’s biggest bet over the whole year — a solid pick considering it rallied 570%.

Also, Bitcoin outperformed ARKW’s other top stocks and GBTC and the $18 billion ARKK.

Earlier today, Protos reported that another Wall Street fund, Guggenheim, was now free to buy up to $500 million worth of GBTC stock.

If it does, Guggenheim would easily eclipse ARK as Grayscale’s biggest institutional shareholder.

For now.

None of this is investment advice. Yeah, it’s cool that billion-dollar Wall Street are getting rich with Bitcoin exposure, but GBTC stock comes with premiums for retail investors. Always do your own research.