Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest adds $12M in Bullish shares as options trading surges

Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest increased its position in Bullish crypto exchange on Monday, purchasing about 238,000 shares worth around $12 million across its flagship funds.

According to ARK’s daily trade disclosures, the ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK) bought 164,214 shares, the ARK Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW) added 49,056 shares, and the ARK Fintech Innovation ETF (ARKF) acquired 25,076 shares.

The move follows ARK’s purchases last week. On Friday, the investment firm acquired over $5 million worth of Bullish shares across multiple ETFs.

ARK has continued its accumulation since the exchange’s $1.1 billion New York Stock Exchange debut, when it bought about $172 million worth of shares across its funds.

Related: Bullish shares rise as Q2 earnings beat analyst estimates

Bullish sees record volume after launching crypto options platform

The buying spree came as Bullish reported over $82 million in trading volume within five days of launching its crypto options platform. The product allows customers to use their entire portfolio as collateral across spot, futures and options markets, enhancing capital efficiency.

Institutional partners, including FalconX Global, Wintermute and BlockTech, participated in the launch. “We’ve built a product that aims to resolve the pain points that exist today in trading crypto options,” Bullish wrote on X on Monday.

Bullish shares closed at $50.26, down 0.71% on the day, with after-hours trading showing a slight dip to $50.02.

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

Bullish launches in 20 US states

Last month, Bullish officially launched in 20 US states after obtaining its BitLicense and money transmission license from the New York State Department of Financial Services, a significant regulatory milestone for any crypto firm.

Bullish began operations with two major institutional clients, BitGo and Nonco. Founded in 2021, Bullish has already processed over $1.5 trillion in global trading volume and ranks among the top 10 exchanges by Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) activity.

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