ARK Invest tokenizes ARK Venture Fund on Ethereum with Securitize
ARK Invest is issuing tokenized interests in its ARK Venture Fund (ARKVX) on Ethereum through Securitize, giving eligible investors fund-level exposure to holdings including OpenAI and Anthropic.
Why it matters
The deal gives Securitize an asset-manager mandate for issuing fund shares onchain and pushes tokenization past the public stocks and money-market products most early projects used, into a vehicle whose holdings include private companies. It does not make that private exposure tradable: ARKVX stays a closed-end interval fund with liquidity through periodic repurchase offers, and Crypto.News reported the tokenized share class operates under a September 21 SEC order.
Where the sources disagree
Whether ARKVX will expand beyond Ethereum
First on Ethereum, then potentially expanding to other chains
CoinDesk
Additional blockchain networks could follow the Ethereum rollout 'according to reports'
CoinGape
Tokenized fund interests are issued initially on Ethereum, with no other network mentioned
Bitcoin Insider, Crypto News (CryptoNews.net)
CoinDesk frames other chains as a possibility ARK may pursue, CoinGape attributes the same expectation to unnamed reports, and the remaining outlets give no basis for a second network, so none is confirmed.
Key facts
ARK Invest is issuing tokenized interests in the ARK Venture Fund (ARKVX) on Ethereum through Securitize, its first onchain launch.
Reported by CoinDesk
Securitize handles the onchain issuance and the investor experience, while ARK retains the investment strategy and fund structure.
Reported by CoinDesk
Named ARKVX holdings include OpenAI, Anthropic, Stripe and Databricks, and the funds say holdings can change.
Reported by CoinDesk
The tokenized interest is an investment in the fund and does not give investors direct ownership of shares in the underlying companies.
Reported by CoinGape
ARKVX is an actively managed, continuously offered closed-end interval fund.
Reported by CoinGape
ARKVX shares are not listed on an exchange and liquidity comes through periodic repurchase offers, so the tokenized interest is not a freely tradable retail asset.
Reported by Bitcoin Insider
Crypto.News reported that a September 21 SEC order permits ARK to offer a tokenized share class under specified conditions.
Reported by Crypto.News
The project builds on ARK's strategic investment in Securitize made last year.
Reported by CoinDesk
What happened
ARK Invest said on 24 September that it is issuing tokenized interests in the ARK Venture Fund (ARKVX) on Ethereum, using Securitize's infrastructure for onchain issuance and the investor experience, with Securitize chief executive Carlos Domingo describing the product as a way to give investors diversified exposure to sought-after private technology companies. ARKVX is an actively managed, closed-end interval fund whose named holdings include OpenAI, Anthropic, Stripe and Databricks, and CoinDesk, CoinGape, Crypto.News, Bitcoin Insider and Crypto News all describe the tokenized interest as a stake in the fund rather than direct ownership of any of those companies, with the underlying managers free to change the portfolio. Crypto.News reported that a September 21 SEC order permits ARK to offer a tokenized share class under specified conditions; none of the other four outlets mentions that order or names a filing. Bitcoin Insider reported that ARK keeps responsibility for investment strategy and fund structure while Securitize supplies the issuance layer, and that the tokenized interest does not by itself make private-company exposure liquid because eligibility, transfer, valuation and redemption conditions stay part of the product, a point Crypto News backs by noting the fund shares are not exchange-listed and liquidity comes through periodic repurchase offers. Ethereum is the only confirmed network: CoinDesk wrote that ARK may expand to other chains and CoinGape said unnamed reports point to further networks, so no second chain or date is confirmed. Cathie Wood called putting the fund onchain a natural extension of ARK's mission to democratize access to technologically enabled disruptive innovation, and the project builds on ARK's strategic investment in Securitize last year.
How the story developed
- Official statement
SEC order allows ARK to offer a tokenized share class
Crypto.Newis cited a September 21 order permitting a tokenized share class under specified conditions; no other outlet in the set mentions the order.
- Official statement
ARK and Securitize joint announcement
A September 24 announcement from both firms set out the structure: Securitize runs issuance and investor access on Ethereum, ARK keeps portfolio management.
- First report
First report by CoinDesk
Cathie Wood's ARK teams with Securitize to tokenize venture fund with OpenAI, Anthropic stakes
- Independent corroboration
Independently corroborated by CoinGape
Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest Launches Tokenized ARKVX Fund on Ethereum
- Update
Independent outlets add fund structure detail
CoinGape and Crypto.News described ARKVX as an actively managed closed-end interval fund and stressed that the tokenized interest is a fund stake, not direct ownership of OpenAI or Anthropic.
- Update
Liquidity limits of the tokenized fund interest set out
Bitcoin Insider and Crypto News reported that the shares are not exchange-listed, liquidity comes from periodic repurchase offers, and transfer, valuation and redemption rules remain part of the product.
How coverage built up
Independent sources over time, counted the way the consensus panel counts them: a republication of a wire story does not move the line.
- 24 Sept 2026, 13:00 UTC: CoinDesk — 1 independent source, 1 reports
- 24 Sept 2026, 16:08 UTC: CoinGape — 2 independent sources, 2 reports
- 24 Sept 2026, 16:52 UTC: Crypto.News — 3 independent sources, 3 reports
- 24 Sept 2026, 20:46 UTC: Bitcoin Insider — 4 independent sources, 4 reports
Affected entities
Also mentioned: NYSE, Circle, Base, VanEck, United Arab Emirates
Original sources
| Publisher | Report | Role | Published |
|---|---|---|---|
| CoinDesk Crypto media | Cathie Wood's ARK teams with Securitize to tokenize venture fund with OpenAI, Anthropic stakes | Original | |
| Crypto.News Crypto media | ARK Invest tokenizes venture fund with OpenAI exposure | Independent | |
| CoinGape Crypto media | Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest Launches Tokenized ARKVX Fund on Ethereum | Independent | |
| Bitcoin Insider Aggregator | ARK and Securitize Bring Venture-Fund Exposure Onchain | Syndicated | |
| Crypto News (CryptoNews.net) Aggregator | ARK Invest Tokenizes ARK Venture Fund on Ethereum via Securitize | Syndicated |
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