ARK Venture Fund interests move onchain through Securitize

ARK Invest is tokenizing its ARK Venture Fund through Securitize, making eligible investors’ fund interests available on Ethereum. The move brings the fund’s exposure to private and public technology companies onto blockchain infrastructure, according to Securitize’s Sept. 24 announcement.

What does the token represent?

The token represents an investor’s interest in ARKVX, an actively managed closed-end interval fund. It does not put the fund’s portfolio companies onchain or make their shares freely tradable. CoinDesk reported that investors receive a blockchain-based representation of their fund interest.

ARKVX invests in private and publicly traded companies aligned with disruptive innovation. The announcement names OpenAI, Anthropic, Stripe and Databricks among its holdings, while noting that fund holdings can change. Investors therefore gain exposure through the fund, rather than direct ownership of those companies’ shares.

Securitize supplies the infrastructure for onchain issuance and the investor experience. The fund will first be available on Ethereum. The announcement does not specify a token standard, smart-contract design or plans for other networks.

Does tokenization change how investors can exit?

The tokenization announcement does not establish an open secondary market for ARKVX interests. The fund’s disclosure says its shares are not listed on a securities exchange, no secondary market is expected to develop, and liquidity is limited to periodic repurchase offers that may be oversubscribed.

That distinction matters: recording an interest on a blockchain does not itself make it continuously tradable or guarantee that an investor can sell when desired. Eligibility and other restrictions apply, according to the fund disclosure.

ARK founder, CEO and chief investment officer Cathie Wood described the launch as an extension of the firm’s effort to broaden access to its investment strategy. The announcement follows ARK’s strategic investment in Securitize, disclosed in October 2025. The firms said that investment was intended to support adoption of tokenized securities and regulated investment products.

The launch puts a venture fund’s investor interests on blockchain rails while leaving the fund’s underlying structure in place. Its portfolio remains actively managed, and the stated limits on share liquidity continue to apply.