Ark Invest Buys $14M in CRCL Shares as Circle Seals Japan Deal With JCB

Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest doubled down on Circle stock. This comes even as some Wall Street analysts are turning cautious on the stock.

The investment firm bought 217,896 shares of CRCL on July 9 across its ARKK, ARKW, and ARKF ETFs. Based on the stock’s closing price of $63.01 that day, the purchase was worth about $13.7 million. 

The firm also added $4 million worth of stock on July 14, bringing the total shares bought between July 9 and July 15 to about $18 million.

Notably, the company also announced a new deal in Japan as global expansion efforts continue.

Ark Invest continues building its Circle position

The purchase shows that Ark Invest is bullish on the stock despite bearish calls. The company bought 217,896 shares while also reducing its holdings in Robinhood. On the same day, it sold 85,319 HOOD worth $9.8 million.

Source: Ark Invest Daily Tracker

This comes just as the Circle stock is under pressure. For context, Japanese investment bank Mizuho downgraded CRCL from "Neutral" to "Underperform." The firm also cut its price target from $85 to $50. They said that the new OpenUSD stablecoin could affect the firm’s business model. The shares fell about 4% and closed at $63 after the downgrade.

CRCL Stock price chart

This has not stopped Ark Invest from buying. Just as July started, the firm bought $18 million worth of CRCL shares. In May, it added $5.5 million after the company's earnings report. In total, the investment firm has bought at least $40 million worth of the shares in about two months.

Circle expands its global stablecoin ambitions

Japan's largest card network, JCB, has signed an MoU with Circle to explore the use of stablecoins for cross-border payments and merchant transactions. This could expand the company’s reach significantly. JCB currently serves about 140 million users while working with 40 million merchants all over the world.

The release said that the companies will start out by testing stablecoins for JCB's internal treasury operations and fund transfers. The goal is to see how USDC can help reduce remittance costs and improve payment efficiency.

They are also looking into the possibility of stablecoin payments for merchants and international visitors traveling to Japan. The companies shared that stablecoins could help reduce currency exchange friction for tourists.

This comes just as the firm received approval from the U.S. OCC to launch its bank charter. The  Circle National Trust would allow the company to operate as a federally regulated trust institution.

The agreement in Japan comes as the country is starting to adopt blockchain-based financial services. For instance, Japanese company Progmat recently moved about $2.7 billion worth of tokenised assets to a the Avalanche network.

The country’s regulatory changes have also encouraged institutions to use stablecoins. Many companies in Japan are now exploring real-world payment use cases. For example, convenience store giant Lawson is set to begin a stablecoin payment pilot that could begin as early as August.

These developments could also open up additional growth opportunities for the stablecoin company, especially as USDC’s market cap keeps dropping, now at $73 billion.