Ark Invest bought more than $500 million worth of SpaceX shares on the day the rocket company went public, a major bet on one of the most anticipated IPOs in years. The purchase was likely funded by selling other positions, according to the firm's own trading disclosures. Ark, run by Cathie Wood, is one of the loudest bitcoin bulls on Wall Street — it has a million-dollar price target for the cryptocurrency by 2030.
The SpaceX bet
SpaceX made its public market debut this week, and Ark was ready. The firm snapped up over half a billion dollars in shares on the first day of trading. It's a huge position for any single stock, especially one as volatile as a newly public space company. Ark didn't disclose which positions it sold to raise the cash, but the firm has a history of trimming holdings in other tech names to make room for new bets.
How Ark paid for it
Filings show the SpaceX purchase was funded by selling other assets. That's standard for Ark — the firm actively manages its exchange-traded funds and frequently rebalances. What isn't clear is which stocks got cut. Some of Ark's biggest holdings include Tesla, Coinbase, and Roku. The timing isn't great for some of those names, but Ark has never been shy about making aggressive portfolio shifts when it sees an opportunity.
Bitcoin and beyond
Ark's bitcoin thesis is as bold as its SpaceX bet. The firm projects bitcoin will hit $1 million by 2030, a call that puts it far ahead of most mainstream analysts. Critics say the target is unrealistic, but Wood has stuck by it. Buying SpaceX on IPO day doesn't change that stance — if anything, it shows Ark is willing to put money where its mouth is on big, transformative technologies. The question now is whether the SpaceX bet pays off as well as the bitcoin one.
