Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest sold around $110 million worth of Circle (CRCL) shares on June 23, continuing a wave of profit-taking just weeks after the stablecoin issuer went public.
According to the firm’s latest trading disclosure, the firm’s ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK) offloaded the most significant chunk of CRCL with the sale of 306,921 shares, followed by the ARK Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW), which sold 72,302 shares. The ARK Fintech Innovation ETF (ARKF) divested 36,621 shares.
Cumulatively, these three funds sold 415,844 CRCL shares for $109.6 million.
Meanwhile, these sales follow last week’s divestments of around $240 million across three trading sessions on June 16, 17, and 20.
With the latest sale, ARK has liquidated a combined $350 million in CRCL holdings within four trading sessions.
Circle’s rising valuation
The flurry of selling activity comes amid a stunning rally in Circle’s stock, which has propelled the firm’s valuation to new record highs.
Since going public at $31 per share and raising $1.05 billion, the stock has surged by nearly 750% to a peak near $300, according to Yahoo Finance data.
That rally has pushed the company’s valuation beyond $63 billion, with enterprise value topping $70 billion during June 23 trading.
This sharp climb now places Circle ahead of several notable fintech firms. According to Artemis founder Jon Ma, Circle’s valuation has overtaken Robinhood’s $68 billion market cap and now surpasses Nubank ($59 billion) and Block ($38 billion).
At its intraday peak, Circle briefly outpaced Coinbase, the largest US-based crypto trading platform, in market cap on a fully diluted basis, according to Dragonfly’s general partner, Rob Hadick.
Despite being a new entrant to public markets, Circle’s valuation metrics are raising eyebrows. Ma pointed out that the firm now trades at 32 times its revenue, 80 times its gross profit, and over 280 times its earnings.
Still, bullish observers argue that this growth is backed by USDC’s global relevance and expanding institutional adoption of stablecoins. According to them, this rapid ascent has positioned Circle as a top contender among US-listed crypto firms.
Considering this, Ma believes Circle could permanently flip Coinbase’s market value in the future if it can hold its current trajectory.
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