As ether (ETH) continues its record-setting rally, Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest is making a bold bet on an ETH treasury play.
The asset manager purchased 4.4 million shares of Bitmine Immersion Technologies (BMNR) across its ETFs on Monday, according to trade disclosures, marking a $116 million investment into the Peter Thiel-backed Ethereum treasury firm.
ARK’s flagship Innovation ETF (ARKK) received the bulk of the allocation with nearly 2.9 million shares.
The move comes as Bitmine, helmed by Fundstrat’s Tom Lee, cements its position as one of the largest corporate holders of ETH. The company has amassed over 300,000 ETH, worth more than $1 billion, and plans to stake up to 5% of Ethereum’s total supply.
It’s a pivot that’s drawn comparisons to MicroStrategy’s bitcoin strategy and ignited investor interest in ether as a balance-sheet asset.
Aside from the move into BMNR, ARK sold 218,986 shares of Coinbase (COIN) across its ETFs, a sale valued at $90.6 million. The crypto exchange had just posted an all-time high above $437 after the U.S. House passed sweeping legislation establishing a federal framework for stablecoins and digital assets.
ETH is currently trading above $3600, according to CoinDesk markets data. Ether is up nearly 44% in the last two weeks.
Read more: Tom Lee Sees Ether Hitting $15K, With Ethereum Emerging as Wall Street’s Favored Blockchain
