By David Randall
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Star stock picker Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest sold 403,990 shares of embattled crypto-focused bank Silvergate Capital Corp on Thursday as shares in the firm plunged more than 40%, according to disclosures by Ark Invest.
The selling nearly liquidated the firm’s share holdings and came from the $645 million ARK Fintech Innovation ETF, and not the firm’s flagship $5.9 billion ARK Innovation fund, which does not have a position in the company.
Silvergate Capital said it would cut its workforce by 40% after investors pulled more than $8 billion in deposits in the wake of the collapse of FTX. Total deposits from digital asset customers at Silvergate fell to $3.8 billion at the end of December, compared to $11.9 billion at the end of September.
Ark Invest first bought shares in Silvergate in November, 2019, according to Morningstar data.
Shares of Silvergate were down 9.2% in midday trading on Thursday, while shares of the ARK Fintech Innovation fund were up 0.8%.
(Reporting by David Randall; Editing by Josie Kao)