ARK Invest Buys $9.4M in Coinbase and Circle Amid CLARITY Act Uncertainty

Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest quietly pumped roughly $9.4 million into two high-profile crypto stocks on Aug. 3 — buying shares of Coinbase Global and stablecoin issuer Circle Internet Financial as Washington debated the fate of the CLARITY Act. What ARK bought - Coinbase: ARK purchased a total of 54,776 shares across three ETFs: - ARK Innovation ETF: 38,761 shares (~$5.68 million, using Coinbase’s Aug. 3 close of $146.50) - ARK Next Generation Internet ETF: 11,133 shares (~$1.63 million) - ARK Fintech Innovation ETF: 4,882 shares (~$715,000) Combined Coinbase spend: about $8.02 million. - Circle: ARK added 23,070 shares via two funds: - ARK Innovation ETF: 17,910 shares (~$1.08 million, at Circle’s Aug. 3 close of $60.35) - ARK Next Generation Internet ETF: 5,160 shares (~$311,000) Combined Circle spend: roughly $1.39 million. Taken together, the trades totaled approximately $9.42 million and increased ARK’s exposure to one of the largest U.S. crypto exchanges and a major stablecoin issuer as the broader digital-asset market remained under pressure. Price moves and technicals - Coinbase: Closed Aug. 3 up 0.16%. On Aug. 4 it traded at $149.12, up 1.78% after bouncing from an intraday low of $145.60; recent support sits near $139.25. Key resistance levels mentioned include the 78.6% Fibonacci retracement at $156.99 and a higher barrier at $170.93. Technical indicators showed lingering weakness — RSI at 42.44 and a bearish MACD — implying buyers have defended recent lows but not yet flipped the trend. - Circle: Despite ARK’s buying, shares fell 3.61% on Aug. 3 amid a longer-term downtrend from levels above $130. On Aug. 4 Circle rebounded to $62.56 (up 3.66%), but remained under the 20-day simple moving average ($63.73) and well below the 50-day ($75.55). Chaikin Money Flow ticked up to 0.03, signaling slightly positive capital flow; immediate support is around $60, while a close above $63.73 would strengthen a short-term recovery. Regulatory backdrop: CLARITY Act timing uncertain ARK’s purchases came as Senate leaders negotiated next steps on the CLARITY Act, a bill that would partition U.S. digital-asset oversight between federal regulators. Senate Majority Leader John Thune described crypto market structure as among the chamber’s remaining priorities before the August recess, saying, “We have a bunch of stuff that we have to finish, and we’ll just stay here until we finish it.” On whether the measure will get a vote he added, “I think market structure we’ll get a vote on. Whether we can get on it or not, we’ll see.” Despite those comments, the CLARITY Act had not been placed on the Senate’s official floor schedule as of the report. The chamber was set to act on H.R. 6500, and no motion to proceed on H.R. 3633 (the vehicle tied to CLARITY discussions) had been announced. Analyst Ted Pillows noted that a cloture filing would likely push the earliest possible vote to Friday, leaving legislators a narrow procedural window before the August 10 recess — and making passage before the break increasingly uncertain. Why it matters ARK’s targeted buys signal continued institutional interest in U.S.-listed crypto firms even as regulatory uncertainty lingers. The trades boost ARK’s stake in Coinbase, a bellwether exchange, and in Circle, a company central to the stablecoin ecosystem — both names that would be directly affected by any new federal market-structure rules. With the CLARITY Act’s timing still unresolved, investors will be watching both market technicals and Capitol Hill developments closely.