ARK Invest’s $1.3B Fund Heads to Ethereum Through Tokenization

ARK Invest is preparing to bring its ARK Venture Fund onto a blockchain and list the fund on Ethereum, with Securitize Corp. handling the tokenization process.

The fund, which launched in 2022, is a closed-end interval vehicle with approximately $1.3 billion in assets. According to ARK Invest’s website, its portfolio includes both public and private companies, including Anthropic, Kalshi, SpaceX and Stripe.

For its initial blockchain rollout, ARK has selected the interval fund operating under the ticker ARKVX.

ARKVX Selected as First Tokenization Target

Tom Staudt, president and chief operating officer at ARK Invest, described the move as the result of several years of work.

He said the firm chose an interval fund as its starting point partly because such structures are relatively straightforward to establish compared with ETFs, while ETFs provide broader access through exchange trading.

Unlike ETFs, interval funds generally do not trade continuously on a secondary market. Instead, investors purchase shares directly from the fund and can redeem them during predetermined periods.

ARK Invest sees the Ethereum-based launch as an initial stage rather than a one-off project.

Staudt said the longer-term objective is to tokenize a larger number of ARK’s funds. He attributed the timing to developments across the tokenization ecosystem, including clearer regulations, more capable digital wallets and a growing number of service providers prepared to support blockchain-based financial products.

Tokenization Expands Across Traditional Finance

ARK’s initiative comes as major financial institutions increasingly explore blockchain-based versions of conventional investment products.

The broader tokenized real-world asset market has grown by more than 400% since the beginning of 2025, reaching roughly $39 billion, according to RWA.xyz. Despite that growth, tokenized assets remain small compared with the multi-trillion-dollar markets for traditional mutual funds and ETFs.

The shift could eventually affect how financial assets are issued, traded and settled by moving parts of the existing infrastructure onto blockchain networks.

Blockchain Could Bring 24/7 Access to Funds

Supporters of asset tokenization argue that blockchain infrastructure could lower operational costs, accelerate settlement and make fractional ownership more accessible.

It could also allow certain financial assets to be transferred around the clock rather than being restricted by traditional market hours.

However, the transition also introduces risks. The International Monetary Fund warned in an April report that broader tokenization could potentially amplify financial instability during periods of market stress.

ARK Invest has also acknowledged that moving financial products onto blockchain networks does not eliminate these risks. Staudt emphasized that the technology comes with its own challenges while arguing that greater access to financial services could be one of the potential benefits of the transition.

ARK’s Ethereum Move Signals Broader Tokenization Push

ARK Invest’s decision to begin with ARKVX suggests that tokenization is moving beyond experimental blockchain projects and into established investment vehicles with substantial assets under management. The more significant development may be what follows this first launch: if the model works operationally, ARK could extend blockchain-based ownership to additional funds.

At the same time, the $39 billion scale of the tokenized real-world asset market remains modest compared with traditional investment markets. This means the next phase of tokenization will likely depend not only on investor demand, but also on whether regulatory frameworks, custody infrastructure, liquidity and secondary-market access can develop alongside the technology.