Crypto exchange Coinbase saw its COIN stock jump more than 30% in the last five days following a positive outcome of the Ripple Labs court case against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Investor Cathie Wood and its ARK Invest Management saw this as an opportunity to cash in on the surge and part ways with a substantial amount of Coinbase shares.
In an email update shared with investors, ARK announced it had sold 478,356 Coinbase shares. Considering that the COIN stock traded at around $105 per share on Friday, the investment fund raked in more than $50 million. This follows a previous sale of Coinbase shares that were worth approximately $12 million.
ARK still owns a substantial amount of Coinbase shares even after the two sales. It is one of the largest shareholders in the US-based crypto exchange, having more than 10 million Coinbase shares in its portfolio.
SEC sued Ripple Labs back in 2020, arguing that the crypto-focused software company offering XRP tokens on public exchanges constitutes a sale of unregistered securities. However, U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres ruled in favor of Ripple Labs, saying the company didn’t violate any federal laws.
The outcome of the lawsuit had a positive effect on the crypto industry, with all major cryptocurrencies seeing a jump in value. The shares of publicly-trade crypto firms like Coinbase also benefited.