Cathie Wood’s favorite crypto stock is still down 66% from record highs

Few names lit up Wall Street in 2025 like one crypto sector’s breakout IPO.

It tore out of the gate last June, minted overnight winners, and quickly became the stock every trader wanted a piece of. For a few heady weeks, it looked unstoppable.

Today, the crypto stock trades at 66% below its all-time high.

One high-profile money manager hasn’t flinched, though. As the share price slid month after month, she kept buying, and the stock now ranks among her largest holdings.

Why Circle stock became a crypto market bellwether

Circle Internet Group isn’t a meme coin or a mining play. It’s the company behind USDC, the world’s second-largest stablecoin.

A stablecoin is a digital dollar. One USDC is always equal to one U.S. dollar, backed by cash and short-term Treasuries.

That makes Circle (CRCL) less of a crypto gamble and more of a plumbing company for digital money.

Circle went public in June 2025 at $31 a share. Within weeks, it reached a closing high of $263.45 on June 23, 2025.

That’s a stunning run for any new listing.

Since then, reality has set in. At the time of writing, CRCL stock trades around $91, valuing the company at a market cap of $22.5 billion.

The digital-asset market is down over 50% from its October 2025 peak, and Circle got swept up in the tide.

When you understand why the stock fell, the next part gets a lot more interesting.

Cathie Wood keeps buying Circle stock during the slump

Here’s the twist. While most investors headed for the exits, Cathie Wood remained bullish.

Her ARK funds first bought Circle in Q2 of 2025, scooping up 2.92 million shares, according to data from Stock Circle.

• Q3 2025: Added 42,500 shares at an average closing price of $138.55

• Q4 2025: Added 1.17 million shares (a 39.6% jump) at an average of $102.88

• Q1 2026: Added another 368,000 shares at an average of $80.20

Add it up, and ARK now holds 4.51 million Circle shares worth about $408 million. That’s 2.72% of the equity portfolio and her 10th-largest position.

Fund manager buys and sells

ARK owns roughly 1.35% of all outstanding Circle stock.

Wood’s estimated cost basis sits near $98.60 a share. With the stock around $90, that’s a paper loss of about 8.1%.

Wood’s playbook rarely tracks short-term sentiment. She buys disruptors when they’re cheap and unloved, betting the long-term story wins out. Circle fits that mold perfectly.

A strong performance in Q1

In its first-quarter report, Circle said: