Cathie Wood's ARK Invest has partnered with tokenization platform Securitize to bring its $1.3 billion ARK Venture Fund onchain to the Ethereum blockchain. The move, announced on Sept. 24, gives eligible investors digital token exposure to high-profile private companies including SpaceX, OpenAI, and Anthropic.
Tokenizing High-Valuation Private Tech Stakes
According to ARK's regulatory disclosures, 78% of the fund's assets were allocated to unlisted private companies as of August 31. The top positions included SpaceX at 7.54%, OpenAI at 5.26%, and Anthropic at 3.86%. Because these firms do not trade on public stock exchanges, tokenization through Securitize provides a new mechanism for recording digital ownership on a public ledger.
The venture initiative originally launched in September 2022 with a low $500 minimum investment requirement to democratize access to venture capital. By expanding into tokenizing investment funds on Ethereum, ARK builds on regulatory momentum following a Sept. 21 U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) order that permitted the fund to offer a tokenized share class for private alternative trading systems (ATS).
Structure, Redemptions, and Growth
- ARK Invest and Securitize officially announced the Ethereum tokenization on Sept. 24 for the $1.3 billion fund.
- As of August 31, 78% of portfolio holdings were in private firms, led by SpaceX (7.54%), OpenAI (5.26%), and Anthropic (3.86%).
- The fund's net assets previously expanded from $208 million in July 2025 to $558 million by January 2026, operating with a 2.9% annual expense ratio after fee waivers.
The vehicle operates as an interval fund, meaning liquidity is structured through scheduled quarterly share buybacks that may become oversubscribed. ARK has explicitly noted that no secondary market trading is expected to form for the tokens, while annual expenses stand at 2.9% after fee waivers. The launch marks another milestone for Securitize, which previously tokenized BlackRock's BUIDL fund on Ethereum in March 2024. ARK subsequently made a strategic investment in Securitize in October 2025, following a broader SEC ruling on Sept. 17 that opened cleared pathways for tokenized equity trading.
Why It Matters
Bringing institutional-grade venture assets onto public blockchains represents a major step forward for real-world asset (RWA) tokenization. By moving late-stage private equity like OpenAI and SpaceX onto Ethereum, ARK Invest is testing whether blockchain infrastructure can improve distribution and administrative settlement for illiquid funds. If successful, this tokenized interval structure could serve as a template for retail-accessible private equity models across Wall Street.
