- Ark Invest purchased $17.8 million of Circle stock.
- Circle shares have fallen 41% over the past month.
- Investors reacted to the launch of Open USD.
- Analysts say the selloff may be overdone.
Cathie Wood's Ark Invest continued buying Circle shares despite the stablecoin issuer's recent stock decline.
The firm purchased nearly 288,000 shares worth approximately $17.8 million across three of its ETFs after Circle's stock dropped another 1% on Wednesday. Shares have now fallen roughly 41% over the past month, including an 18% decline following the announcement of the competing Open USD (OUSD) stablecoin initiative.
The market's reaction was largely driven by concerns that OUSD—backed by more than 140 companies including Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, BlackRock, and Coinbase—could threaten Circle's USDC business. Coinbase's participation also raised questions because the exchange currently earns a significant share of USDC's reserve revenue.
However, several Wall Street analysts believe those fears are exaggerated. Bernstein maintained its bullish rating and $190 price target, arguing Coinbase is unlikely to move away from Circle, while William Blair said Circle's liquidity, payments infrastructure, and first-mover advantage remain significant competitive strengths.
Ark also added nearly 28,000 shares of crypto exchange Bullish, reinforcing its continued confidence in digital asset infrastructure companies despite recent market volatility.
