Ark Invest buys more of its spot bitcoin ETF, sells BITO

The investment firm’s buys of its Ark 21Shares Bitcoin ETF this week amounted to roughly $30 million worth of shares

article-image

viewimage/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks

share

Ark Invest has bought more of its spot bitcoin ETF as it continues to dump shares of the largest bitcoin futures fund. 

The fund manager’s Ark Next Generation ETF (ARKW) on Thursday bought 365,695 shares of the spot bitcoin ETF it launched last week with 21Shares, according to a trade notification.  It sold 758,915 shares of the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy (BITO) from the fund that day. 

The move comes after ARKW sold 757,664 of BITO shares on Tuesday, while adding 365,427 shares of the Ark 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB). 

In total, the roughly 730,000 of ARKB shares added — as well as the 1.5 million of BITO shares sold — were each worth roughly $30 million at 10 am ET on Friday morning. 

Read more: Bitcoin ETF Tracker

The ProShares fund was the first bitcoin futures ETF in the US. It launched in October 2021 and gained more than $1 billion in assets after two days on the market. 

But 10 US spot bitcoin ETFs launched last week following a milestone decision by the US Securities and Exchange Commission — opening up a new access point for BTC exposure.

Bloomberg Intelligence analysts predicted last month Ark Invest would offload its position in the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) and ultimately move that capital into ARKB to bolster the fund’s asset base. Flows and volumes are “crucial” to marketing an ETF, they noted at the time. 

Ark Invest did just that, first replacing sold shares of GBTC with BITO before piling money into their own spot bitcoin ETF. 

Read more: BlackRock beats spot bitcoin ETF rivals in race to $1B assets

After five days trading, the Ark 21Shares Bitcoin ETF ranks fourth among spot bitcoin ETFs  — behind BlackRock, Fidelity and Bitwise — with about $320 million of inflows, according to Bloomberg Intelligence data

BITO has seen $272 million of outflows since the spot bitcoin funds launched on Jan. 11, ETF.com data shows.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Brooklyn, NY

SUN - MON, JUN. 22 - 23, 2025

Blockworks and Cracked Labs are teaming up for the third installment of the Permissionless Hackathon, happening June 22–23, 2025 in Brooklyn, NY. This is a 36-hour IRL builder sprint where developers, designers, and creatives ship real projects solving real problems across […]

recent research

Research Report Templates (1).jpg

Research

Jupiter has emerged as the undisputed liquidity backbone of Solana, commanding over 90% of spot DEX aggregation and 80% of perp trading volume. But behind the numbers lies a far more ambitious play: a cross-chain, vertically integrated super-app spanning swaps, synthetics, NFTs, memecoins, and launchpads. This report explores Jupiter’s rapid rise, the monetization upgrades reshaping its revenue profile, and the risks that could unwind its dominance, from token dilution to competition. With annualized revenues nearing $300M, the upside is undeniable, if it can navigate the turbulence.

article-image

Immutable has been building a game with Ubisoft that was slated to unveil in April. It may be a TCG.

article-image

Curve founder Michael Egorov is working on a new protocol designed to eliminate impermanent loss, rethink token emissions, and capture BTC-native yield

article-image

Mining outfits have gone bust in the wake of prior halvings. Not so this time around.

article-image

Zora’s announcement that its token is for “fun only” sparked a debate about the need for such tokens

article-image

In recent weeks, Helium has hit new all-time highs while passing major protocol milestones

article-image

Financial advisers in a January survey said equity ETFs were their top choice for gaining crypto exposure in 2025