ARK Seeks SEC Approval for Tokenized Fund Shares

ARK Venture Fund and ARK Investment Management have submitted a second amended exemptive application to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The proposal would add an Exchange Class for potential listing on a national securities exchange and a Tokenized Class whose ownership is recorded on distributed ledger technology. ARK tokenized fund shares could trade through registered alternative trading systems, quotation systems and approved peer-to-peer transfers. Wallets and investors would need to pass know-your-customer and anti-money-laundering checks. The application also seeks to extend the exemption to future interval funds operating under Rule 23c-3 or Rule 13e-4, while allowing asset-based distribution and service fees under investment company rules. Early redemption fees could apply to some share classes, but not the proposed Exchange Class or Tokenized Class. The ARK tokenized fund structure would connect traditional securities with blockchain settlement and secondary-market trading. The fund, launched in 2022 with a $500 minimum investment, provides exposure to private technology companies including OpenAI, Anthropic, Figure AI, Tenstorrent and SpaceX. The SEC has not granted final approval. Interested parties may request a hearing by 18 September. If approved, tokenization could improve transferability and support growth in tokenized securities and real-world assets, although secondary-market prices may diverge from net asset value and liquidity may remain limited. The immediate crypto trading impact is likely to be limited.