ARK Invest Buys $6.8M in Circle Shares After New York Trust Charter Approval

Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest picked up 109,129 shares of Circle (CRCL) — roughly $6.8 million worth — the day after the stablecoin issuer won a New York limited-purpose trust charter, according to ARK’s daily trade filings. What ARK bought - Total shares: 109,129 (approx. $6.83M based on Circle’s July 31 close of $62.61) - ARK Innovation ETF: 77,103 shares - ARK Next Generation Internet ETF: 22,238 shares - ARK Fintech Innovation ETF: 9,788 shares The move increased ARK’s exposure to Circle as the company builds out regulated stablecoin infrastructure in the U.S. It came on the heels of ARK’s roughly $40.2 million purchase of Tesla, SpaceX and Nvidia shares on July 28 amid a broader tech-sector sell-off. ARK also made several other trades on July 31 — buying 298,243 CoreWeave shares, 12,512 shares of the 3iQ Solana Staking ETF, 7,500 Pony.ai shares and 2,700 Kodiak AI shares — while trimming stakes in Shopify, Cloudflare, CrowdStrike, Snowflake, 10x Genomics, Komatsu, Brera Holdings, Iridium Communications and Figma. Why the New York charter matters The purchases followed NYDFS approval for Circle Internet Trust Company LLC to operate as Circle New York Trust. A New York limited-purpose trust company can perform approved virtual currency activities and exercise fiduciary powers — and, unlike a BitLicense holder, it can offer money-transmission services in-state without a separate money-transmitter license. Circle said it plans to gradually move USDC issuance to the New York entity. Circle is also operating under a federal trust charter: the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) granted final approval on July 10 for Circle to establish Circle National Trust, a national trust bank that will initially provide fiduciary digital-asset custody to Circle and affiliates. Circle has identified potential future capabilities, including managing USDC reserves, subject to regulatory approval and business-plan authorization. CEO Jeremy Allaire framed the New York charter as a long-term goal: “Earning a New York trust charter has been a longstanding objective for Circle given the regulatory clarity that comes with it,” he said, adding that the charter places USDC “within a strong regulatory framework” as digital dollars gain wider use. Market reaction and caveats Circle stock closed July 31 at $62.61, down $1.63 (‑2.54%) on the session — suggesting the New York approval didn’t immediately reverse recent weakness. CRCL had jumped about 10% on July 10 after the OCC approval, but those gains were later pared amid sector-wide pressure. The two charters give Circle both state and federal oversight — NYDFS for Circle New York Trust and the OCC for Circle National Trust — strengthening its regulated posture in the U.S. However, analysts caution that charters don’t eliminate business risks tied to USDC growth, interest-rate volatility, competition or share valuation. Bigger picture: consolidation in crypto ARK’s buy comes as the firm’s digital-assets team has flagged consolidation across crypto businesses. ARK research director Lorenzo Valente said revenue and investment were concentrating among fewer companies and forecast more acquisitions, bankruptcies, shutdowns and talent-focused deals — though he did not provide the dataset or measurement period underpinning the concentration claim. What’s next Investors will get another data point on Circle’s progress when the company reports second-quarter 2026 results on Aug. 5 — a key moment to see whether regulatory advances are translating into stronger USDC activity and revenue.