ARK partners with Securitize to tokenize venture capital funds, holdings include OpenAI and Anthropic

According to CoinDesk, asset management company ARK Invest announced a partnership with tokenization platform Securitize to tokenize its ARK Venture Fund (ARKVX), initially issuing it on Ethereum, with potential expansion to other blockchains in the future. The fund invests in private and public companies, with holdings including OpenAI, Anthropic, Stripe, and Databricks. ARK founder and CEO Cathie Wood stated that bringing the ARK Venture Fund on-chain is a natural extension of its mission to democratize investment in disruptive innovation.

Securitize CEO Carlos Domingo stated that this move provides investors with diversified exposure to popular private tech companies, allowing them to hold both OpenAI and Anthropic simultaneously if they are uncertain about which will win the AI race. He also noted that tokenization does not put these companies or their shares on-chain; instead, investors receive an on-chain representation of the fund's equity, while the underlying assets remain private, but user investments are liquid. Securitize also plans to provide daily net asset values and support on-chain market trading of fund equity.

This collaboration builds on the existing relationship between the two parties, as ARK made a strategic investment in Securitize last year. Currently, Wall Street asset management companies are accelerating the introduction of traditional financial products to the blockchain, with early attempts like BlackRock's BUIDL and Franklin Templeton's BENJI fund primarily focused on U.S. Treasury and money market products, now expanding into stocks and private markets.