Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest is continuing to add to its position in Circle Internet Group, the company behind the USDC stablecoin, even as Circle’s stock remains in a long slump.
According to ARK’s daily trade disclosures reviewed by Cointelegraph, the firm bought an additional 220,000 shares of Circle across three actively managed exchange-traded funds on Tuesday. ARK’s most recent purchase was valued at roughly $13.9 million based on Circle’s Tuesday closing price of $63.22 on the New York Stock Exchange.
Key takeaways
- ARK Invest added 220,000 Circle shares on Tuesday, worth about $13.9 million at the NYSE close.
- Through its disclosed July buys, ARK has accumulated 725,517 Circle shares, extending a pattern of additions despite persistent share-price weakness.
- Circle represented about 4.37% of the ARK Fintech Innovation ETF (ARKF) as of Wednesday, and about 3.35% of ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK).
- Analyst 10x Research said it no longer views Circle as a buy after the stock fell back below $80, citing deteriorating fundamentals and slower USDC activity.
Another Circle buy lifts ARK’s July total
ARK’s newest transaction increased the firm’s disclosed July acquisitions to 725,517 Circle shares. The same disclosures show prior buys of 287,609 shares on July 1 and 217,896 shares on July 9.
The buys matter because they highlight a sustained commitment by ARK’s actively managed funds to its thesis on Circle’s role in regulated stablecoin infrastructure—an area where market sentiment has been volatile. Even as Circle’s equity has fallen sharply from its IPO-era high, ARK has continued to build rather than pause.
As of Wednesday, Circle was listed as the seventh-largest holding in ARK Fintech Innovation ETF (ARKF), accounting for 4.37% of the fund. The position was valued at about $33 million, based on the fund’s latest holdings data available on ARK’s official website.
Circle was also a meaningful component of ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK). It represented 3.35% of the flagship fund and ranked as the ninth-largest holding, worth about $218 million, according to ARKK holdings data on ARK’s site.
Circle’s stock under pressure, ARK keeps buying
While ARK’s trading has been steady, Circle shares have struggled. The stock was down about 22% year-to-date and roughly 76% below its post-IPO peak, setting a challenging backdrop for any incremental capital allocation.
That makes ARK’s continued additions notable: the strategy implies ARK sees enough long-term value in Circle—particularly tied to USDC’s position in the stablecoin landscape—to keep increasing exposure during a period when many investors have grown more cautious.
Still, public equity performance can diverge from broader ecosystem adoption, and stablecoin markets are influenced by a mix of regulatory outcomes, competition among issuers, and the pace of on-chain and payment activity.
Analysts warn of deteriorating fundamentals and slower USDC activity
ARK’s latest purchase came as some analysts revisited Circle’s outlook. Digital asset research platform 10x Research said it no longer considers Circle a buy after the stock declined back below $80. In a report published Tuesday, the firm explained that it previously regarded Circle as attractive below that level but now believes Circle’s fundamentals have “meaningfully deteriorated.”
10x Research also pointed to slower USDC activity as a key concern, including a decline in active addresses. While stablecoin usage metrics can fluctuate for a variety of reasons, a sustained slowdown in users interacting with USDC could weigh on expectations for Circle’s growth.
The stablecoin market data adds further context. According to CoinGecko, USDC’s market capitalization had declined roughly 3% year-to-date to $73 billion at the time of publication, though it remained about 17% higher than a year earlier. In other words, USDC’s market size is still larger than it was a year ago, but the near-term trajectory has weakened.
10x Research also left room for two competing interpretations: the recent drop in Circle’s share price could represent a long-term buying opportunity, or it could signal the start of a more prolonged downturn. That uncertainty reflects the broader challenge in assessing equity risk around stablecoin issuers—investors must separate temporary market drawdowns from longer-term changes in transaction demand, regulatory clarity, and competitive dynamics between different stablecoins.
What to watch next for ARK, Circle, and USDC
For investors tracking this story, the immediate focus should be whether Circle can reverse the factors cited by analysts—particularly USDC activity levels—and whether ARK’s continued buying is mirrored by broader capital flows into Circle or remains idiosyncratic. Given how sharply sentiment has swung, the next reports and on-chain usage trends around USDC will likely carry outsized importance.
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