Ark Invest bought more than $75 million of COIN, CRCL, BLSH shares during June bloodbath

Ark Invest has a tendency to load up on shares in cryptocurrency companies when their prices are depressed, and June was no exception.

Bitcoin BTC$58,404.72, the largest cryptocurrency, recorded its worst month in four years, and digital asset firms’ share prices suffered accordingly, which Ark read as a buying opportunity.

The St. Petersburg, Florida-based investment manager bought $44 million worth of shares in crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN), based on the closing prices of the days on which purchases were made. It purchased $25.25 million worth of equity in Circle Internet (CRCL), issuer of the world’s second-largest stablecoin USDC, and $8.2 million worth of crypto exchange Bullish (BLSH), the parent company of CoinDesk, according to emailed disclosures.

Shares of Circle slumped 40% in June, ending the month at $62.63. The decline included an 18% drop on June 30 following the debut of rival stablecoin Open USD, which is backed by more than 140 companies, including Coinbase, Stripe, Visa, Mastercard and BlackRock.

COIN ended June just under 20% lower at $146.19, while BLSH fell 27% to $23.43.