Cathie Wood's ARK Buys $1.5M of Shares in Grayscale's Bitcoin Trust at Record Discount

Cathie Wood's ARK Investment Management bought another 176,945 shares ($1.46 million) in Grayscale's Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) on Monday as the crypto market slumped to a two-year low.

The purchase comes as GBTC shares trade at a record 45% discount to net asset value (NAV) as negative sentiment continues to spread following the collapse of FTX.

Read more: ‘Grayscale Discount’ Widens to Record 43% as FTX Contagion Spreads

ARK also purchased 315,259 shares worth $2.8 million of GBTC, last week as it continues to double down in the ongoing bear market. The investment firm now holds 6.357 million GBTC shares worth $53 million.

The discount narrowed over the course of the day, with it now trading 42.6% below NAV.

FTX's collapse and subsequent bankruptcy filing has caused a domino effect across the crypto industry, with several firms including BlockFi, Wintermute, MultiCoin and Genesis Trading all having significant exposure to the defunct exchange.

Both Genesis and BlockFi halted customer withdrawals in the days following FTX's collapse as liquidity continues to dry up.

Genesis, Grayscale and CoinDesk share the same parent company, Digital Currency Group.

Bitcoin, the asset that underlies Grayscale's Trust, also fell to a fresh two-year low of $15,480 on Monday as fresh fears emerged around the financial health of Genesis. However, bitcoin clawed back near $16,000 on Tuesday.

Read more: Cathie Woods’ ARK Buys 238K More Shares in Coinbase Exchange Amid Crypto Rout