Mar 27, 2026
Most investors watched and waited when shares of the stablecoin issuer Circle Internet Group fell in March. Not ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood.
As Benzinga reports, the multi-millionaire founder bought $16.3-million worth of Circle (NYSE:CRCL) shares on the way down — after selling Circle stock a few days earlier.
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Her investment firm’s flagship ETFs — ARK Innovation ETF (BATS:ARKK), ARK Next Generation Internet (BATS:ARKW) and ARK Blockchain & Fintech Innovation (BATS:ARKF) — snapped up (1) 161,513 Circle shares at $101.17 on the same day the stock cratered. The stock fell upon news the proposed Senate CLARITY bill would ban interest-like returns (2) on stablecoin balances. That’s a threat to Circle, which earns most of its revenue from interest on its reserves of USDC, the world’s second-largest (3) stablecoin.
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Wood’s play was a textbook contrarian move (4): Sell near the top, let the stock drop, buy back at a lower price with more capital.
It doesn’t always work, but when it does, the investor who moved against the crowd captures gains the crowd left behind.
For everyday investors, the more useful question is, what does a move like this reveal about crypto as an asset class? And does it belong in your portfolio at all?
Who’s actually investing in crypto?
More people than you might think are investing in crypto, though it’s still a minority.
According to the JPMorgan Chase Institute, approximately 17% (5) of active Chase checking account holders invested in crypto assets between January 2017 and May 2025, with adoption spiking around periods of peak Bitcoin prices.
That means the majority of everyday bank customers have never touched it — which makes the allocation question more relevant than ever as crypto becomes harder to ignore.
Morgan Stanley’s Global Investment Committee recommends (6) capping crypto exposure at 4% for aggressive growth portfolios, 3% for moderate-to-aggressive investors and zero for conservative investors focused on income or wealth preservation.
For most investors, financial advisors suggest no more than 5% of a well-balanced portfolio in crypto — with many choosing a smaller allocation of around 1–3%, according to CNBC’s analysis citing (7) Grayscale Investments research.
When it comes to Bitcoin, BlackRock’s Investment Institute recommends (8) no more than 1–2% in your portfolio, limiting your total portfolio risk to between 2% and 5%. Blackrock warns you if you hold 4% Bitcoin, the risk to your overall portfolio rises to 14%.
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Volatility means both opportunity and risk in the market
The Circle case demonstrates one source of risk with crypto investments: a single piece of legislation that can materially threaten a company’s entire business model overnight.
Moreover, individual crypto platforms may lack investor protections (9). A regulated crypto ETF can offer a more diversified path than picking individual crypto stocks or coins.
Volatility creates opportunities, but only for investors with the conviction, time horizon and stomach to act when others are selling — like Cathie Wood.
The crypto world and investors are watching to see if she profits from the panic.
Article Sources
We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our editorial ethics and guidelines.
Benzinga (1, 2); Yahoo Finance (3); Aswath Damodaran (4); JPMorgan Chase Institute (5); Morgan Stanley (6); CNBC (7); BlackRock (8); U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (9)
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With a writing and editing career spanning over 15 years, Emma creates and refines content across a broad spectrum of industries, including personal finance, lifestyle, travel, health & wellness, real estate, beauty & fitness and B2B/SaaS/tech.
