Cathie Wood's ARK Makes Bold Crypto Shift: Tesla Exit Funds Coinbase and Brera Bets

Cathie Wood, the renowned investment strategist leading ARK Invest, orchestrated a significant portfolio rebalancing on December 18, 2025, that signaled a strategic pivot toward cryptocurrency-related opportunities. The moves reflect Wood’s tactical decision-making amid market turbulence and highlight her firm’s confidence in the evolving crypto and fintech landscape.

Who Is Cathie Wood and Why Her Moves Matter

Cathie Wood has established herself as one of Wall Street’s most influential disruptive technology investors, commanding substantial assets through her ARK Invest platform. Her investment thesis centers on identifying transformative technologies before they reach mainstream adoption. By tracking ARK’s portfolio decisions, market participants gain insight into Wood’s conviction regarding emerging market trends and technological paradigm shifts. On this particular trading day, her team’s coordinated moves across multiple holdings revealed a calculated reallocation of capital from mature tech positions toward growth-oriented crypto and biotech opportunities.

Tesla Position Trimmed Amid Market Volatility

ARK reduced its Tesla exposure through its flagship ARK Innovation ETF, selling 23,110 shares valued at approximately $11.2 million. The sale came as Tesla shares pulled back from record highs reached earlier in the week. Despite the pullback, Tesla closed Thursday at $483.37, up 3.45% on the day. The electric vehicle manufacturer continues to attract attention from investors tracking advances in autonomous driving technology and production capabilities.

Wall Street analysts currently maintain mixed sentiment on Tesla, with consensus ratings showing 12 Buy, 12 Hold, and nine Sell recommendations from the past three months. The average price target of $383.83 per share suggests potential downside from current trading levels, indicating analyst caution about near-term valuation.

Betting on Coinbase’s Expansion Into Traditional Markets

Wood’s ARK coordinated a substantial purchase of Coinbase shares across three ETFs—the ARK Blockchain & Fintech Innovation ETF, ARK Next Generation Internet ETF, and ARK Innovation ETF—acquiring 17,386 shares for approximately $4.15 million. This investment followed Coinbase’s announcement to launch commission-free U.S. stock trading with 24-hour access available five days a week.

The crypto exchange is strategically broadening its service offerings beyond digital assets into traditional equities trading. Management disclosed that regulatory constraints necessitated beginning with conventional stock trading before pursuing blockchain-based equities in the future. For Coinbase, this expansion represents a long-term vision of becoming a unified platform serving both digital and traditional asset classes, while simultaneously diversifying revenue streams beyond volatile crypto trading cycles.

Solana-Linked Brera Holdings Joins the Portfolio

ARK purchased 575,644 shares of Brera Holdings across three ETFs, totaling approximately $1.4 million, following the company’s announcement of a Solana treasury strategy. The acquisition reflects confidence in Brera’s strategic direction and its connection to the Solana ecosystem. On the day of the purchase, Brera Holdings stock rose 0.84%, closing at $2.39 per share.

The combined crypto-related investments in Coinbase and Brera Holdings reached approximately $5.5 million, representing ARK’s conviction in cryptocurrency-adjacent opportunities. Beyond these major moves, ARK also executed additional portfolio rebalancing through its genomics and other specialized funds, selling 31,149 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals while acquiring 755,538 shares of Recursion Pharmaceuticals and divesting 35,311 shares of Adaptive Biotechnologies.

Cathie Wood’s December trading activity underscores her firm’s dynamic approach to portfolio management, leveraging opportunities in both traditional biotech and emerging crypto sectors simultaneously.