Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest Doubles Down on Coinbase and AI Infrastructure

Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest has signaled a significant shift in its high-conviction portfolio, executing a series of trades on February 17, 2026, that emphasize a deepening commitment to the intersection of digital assets and artificial intelligence. The firm deployed approximately $21 million into three core positions: Coinbase (COIN), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), and Broadcom (AVGO). This aggressive 'buying the dip' strategy, particularly in the semiconductor space, suggests that ARK views recent market volatility as a tactical entry point for the infrastructure providers that underpin both the AI revolution and the decentralized economy.

The accumulation of Coinbase shares is particularly noteworthy for the Web3 sector. As the primary regulated gateway for digital assets in the United States, Coinbase remains a cornerstone of ARK’s 'Big Ideas' thesis. By 'loading up' on COIN during this period, Wood is doubling down on the exchange's role not just as a trading venue, but as a critical piece of financial infrastructure. This move comes at a time when the broader crypto market is navigating evolving regulatory landscapes and institutional adoption cycles, positioning ARK to capture upside as Coinbase expands its institutional services and Layer-2 scaling solutions like Base.

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The firm deployed approximately $21 million into three core positions: Coinbase (COIN), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), and Broadcom (AVGO).

Simultaneously, the heavy investment in AMD and Broadcom highlights ARK’s focus on the 'picks and shovels' of the technological frontier. AMD has increasingly positioned itself as a formidable challenger to Nvidia in the AI chip market, while Broadcom’s networking and custom silicon capabilities are essential for the data centers powering large language models and blockchain networks alike. By rebalancing toward these semiconductor giants, ARK is betting that the hardware cycle still has significant runway, despite concerns over valuation peaks in the broader tech sector.

To fund these acquisitions, ARK significantly reduced its exposure elsewhere, most notably selling $13.3 million worth of Teradyne (TER) shares. Teradyne, a leader in automated testing equipment, has been a long-term holding for ARK, but the substantial divestment suggests a prioritization of high-growth AI and crypto assets over industrial automation in the current market environment. Additionally, the firm scaled back its position in Airbnb (ABNB), indicating a rotation away from consumer-facing platform plays and toward the foundational technologies of the digital age.

Investors and analysts should view these trades as a classic ARK maneuver: concentrated bets on disruptive innovation during periods of price consolidation. The focus on Coinbase alongside AI hardware leaders reinforces the narrative that the next phase of the bull market will be driven by the convergence of these two technologies. As AI agents increasingly require decentralized, permissionless payment rails and high-performance computing power, ARK is positioning its ETFs to be the primary beneficiaries of this technological synergy. Moving forward, the performance of these trades will likely serve as a bellwether for institutional sentiment regarding the long-term viability of the crypto-AI nexus.