Ark Invest to Tokenize $1.3 Billion Venture Fund on Ethereum
Summary
- Ark Invest said it will bring its $1.3 billion ARK Venture Fund (ARKVX) on-chain on the Ethereum network through Securitize.
- The fund invests in private and public technology companies including OpenAI, Anthropic, Stripe and Databricks, and will maintain its existing investment strategy and portfolio management approach after tokenization.
- Ark Invest and Securitize have worked together to expand the market for tokenized securities and real-world assets (RWAs), and said this project turns tokenization's potential to reshape capital markets into an actual product.
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Ark Invest is putting its $1.3 billion venture fund on the Ethereum network, marking the firm's first tokenization of one of its own funds on a blockchain.
Crypto news outlet The Block reported on September 24 that Ark Invest will bring its ARK Venture Fund (ARKVX) on-chain on Ethereum through tokenization platform Securitize. Eligible investors will be able to access the fund through the Securitize platform.
ARKVX is an actively managed fund that invests in private and public technology companies including OpenAI, Anthropic, Stripe and Databricks. The fund currently has about $1.3 billion in net assets. Its investment strategy and portfolio management approach will remain unchanged after the tokenization.
Cathie Wood, Ark Invest's founder and chief executive officer, said tokenizing the ARK Venture Fund puts the firm's conviction about the evolution, and eventual revolution, of capital markets into action. She added that tokenization has the potential to fundamentally change how investors access and participate in public and private financial markets.
The project builds on an existing partnership between Ark Invest and Securitize. In October last year, Ark Invest made a strategic investment in Securitize, and the two have since worked together to expand the market for tokenized securities and real-world assets, or RWAs.
Carlos Domingo, Securitize's co-founder and chief executive officer, said Ark's strategic investment reflected a shared belief that tokenization can reshape capital markets. The project turns that conviction into an actual product, he added.
Securitize last year pursued a public listing through a $1.25 billion special purpose acquisition company merger. Existing shareholders at the time included Ark Invest, BlackRock, Hamilton Lane, Jump Crypto and Morgan Stanley Investment Management.
