Cathie Wood’s ARK bags $5M in Bullish shares as the exchange celebrates US launch

Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest has expanded its bet on Bullish, the digital asset exchange that recently went public on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker BLSH, acquiring over $5 million worth of shares across multiple ETFs.

According to daily trade disclosures from Friday, ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK) bought 72,537 Bullish shares, ARK Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW) added 21,354, and ARK Fintech Innovation ETF (ARKF) purchased 11,122 shares.

The new purchase comes as ARK Invest purchased $8.27 million in Bullish shares in mid-October through two of its funds. The firm has been continuing its accumulation since the exchange’s $1.1 billion NYSE debut, when ARK bought roughly $172 million worth of shares across its funds.

Bullish shares rose 1.24% on Friday to close at $50.57, recovering from earlier market volatility. The exchange is backed by Block.one and helmed by CEO Tom Farley.

Related: ARK Invest-backed firm becomes largest ETH hoarder outside the US

Bullish celebrates US launch

The purchases coincided with Bullish’s US launch event in New York, where the company brought together digital asset leaders to celebrate its expansion. “The energy in the room said it all — the future is Bullish,” the firm posted on X following the event.

In early October, Bullish officially launched in 20 US states after securing both a BitLicense and a money transmission license from New York regulators. The platform began spot trading with BitGo and Nonco as its first clients.

Since launching globally in 2021, Bullish has processed over $1.5 trillion in trades and now ranks among the top 10 exchanges by Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) volume.

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