ARK buys $13.9M of Circle shares at $63.22 as 10x Research drops its buy stance
The 220,000-share add lifts ARK’s disclosed July accumulation to 725,517 shares as USDC activity metrics draw scrutiny.
ARK Invest bought another 220,000 shares of Circle Internet Group (CRCL) across three actively managed ETFs, worth about $13.9 million based on the $63.22 NYSE close. The purchase came as 10x Research moved to “no longer a buy,” citing “meaningfully deteriorated” fundamentals tied to slower USDC activity.
Key Takeaways
- ARK Invest added 220,000 Circle Internet Group (CRCL) shares across three actively managed ETFs, a roughly $13.9 million purchase at the $63.22 close.
- Disclosed July buying in CRCL reached 725,517 shares after earlier purchases on July 1 (287,609 shares) and July 9 (217,896 shares).
- Circle’s stock was down about 22% year-to-date and traded roughly 76% below its post-IPO peak at the time referenced.
- 10x Research removed its buy view after CRCL fell back below $80, pointing to slower USDC activity including declining active addresses.
ARK Adds $13.9M of CRCL at $63.22 as the Stock Sits Deep in Drawdown
ARK Invest disclosed a fresh buy of 220,000 Circle Internet Group shares on Tuesday, spread across three of its actively managed ETFs. At Circle’s $63.22 close on the New York Stock Exchange, the purchase totaled about $13.9 million.
The timing matters because the stock is not coming off a gentle pullback. CRCL was down about 22% year-to-date and sat roughly 76% below its post-IPO peak in the snapshot referenced. That frames ARK’s activity as institutional-style dip-buying into a drawdown, not a momentum add.
July Accumulation Builds: 725,517 Shares Disclosed Across ARK’s Buys
The Tuesday purchase extended ARK’s disclosed July accumulation to 725,517 shares. That total follows earlier disclosed buys of 287,609 shares on July 1 and 217,896 shares on July 9.
For traders, the signal is persistence. Three disclosed adds in the month, with the stock still deep below prior highs, suggests ARK is treating the sell-off as an entry window rather than a risk event to de-gross.
How Big Is Circle Inside ARK Right Now? ARKF and ARKK Weights and Dollar Exposure
Circle is already a material position inside ARK’s flagship products, which makes incremental buying more consequential than a small “toe-hold” allocation.
As of Wednesday, Circle represented 4.37% of ARK Fintech Innovation ETF (ARKF), ranking as the fund’s seventh-largest holding and valued at about $33 million. Circle also accounted for 3.35% of ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK), where it was the ninth-largest holding at roughly $218 million.
Those weights mean flows and rebalancing around CRCL can show up quickly at the fund level, especially if volatility forces risk controls or accelerates conviction adds.
USDC Demand Signals in Focus: 10x Research Flags Slower Activity as USDC Sits Near $73B
The other side of the tape is fundamentals. 10x Research said it no longer considers Circle a buy after the stock fell back below $80, arguing Circle’s fundamentals have “meaningfully deteriorated.” The firm tied that view to slower USDC activity, including a decline in active addresses.
USDC’s supply snapshot is mixed. USDC market capitalization was about $73 billion at the time referenced, down roughly 3% year-to-date but about 17% higher than a year ago, according to CoinGecko data. That backdrop helps explain why analysts are leaning on usage metrics like active addresses rather than headline market cap alone.
Near-term, the market has a clean set of tells: whether ARK discloses additional CRCL buys or sells and whether Circle’s weights inside ARKK (3.35%) and ARKF (4.37%) shift meaningfully. Whether USDC market cap holds around the ~$73 billion level or re-accelerates. And whether the on-chain activity signals cited by 10x Research stabilize. Price-wise, the $80 level referenced by 10x Research is the obvious line in the sand for sentiment.
When a Big Buyer Steps In While Fundamentals Are Questioned, Traders Should Track the Data, Not the Narrative
I treat this as a positioning-versus-fundamentals split, not a clean “smart money vs. analysts” story. ARK is adding size at $63.22 with CRCL still ~76% off its post-IPO peak, while 10x Research is explicitly stepping away after a sub-$80 break and pointing at usage deterioration.
The threshold that matters is whether USDC activity metrics, especially active addresses, stop bleeding while USDC supply holds near ~$73B. If that data stabilizes and CRCL can reclaim and hold above $80, the setup starts to look structural rather than narrative-driven, and ARK’s July accumulation reads less like catching a falling knife and more like underwriting a turn in the underlying demand signal.
