ARK Investment Management has filed an exemption application with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to approve a tokenized share class for its $562 million venture fund. According to reports from crypto.news and ChainCatcher, the application seeks to add a Tokenized Class alongside a new Exchange Class by amending an exemptive order the regulator granted in November 2025. The SEC published formal notice of the request on August 24, with the application filed on May 20, 2026, later amended on June 11 and August 7. The SEC has set September 18 as the deadline for hearing requests before it can act on ARK's application. The application is seeking relief under Sections 6(c), 18, and 17(d) of the Investment Company Act and Rules 23c-3 and 17d-1, with Dechert serving as legal counsel. However, as reported by multiple sources, ARK has no plans to introduce the new share class at this point despite the regulatory approval process.
The proposal would provide different trading routes for the two new classes. As reported by crypto.news and ChainCatcher, Exchange Class shares could list on a national securities exchange, while Tokenized Class shares would have ownership recorded through distributed ledger technology. Tokenized shares would be issued at net asset value with no sales charges, distributed by registered broker-dealers or the fund's transfer agent. The tokenized shares could trade through alternative trading systems registered under Regulation ATS, other quotation mediums, or peer-to-peer transfers between whitelisted wallets. However, peer-to-peer transfers would require every wallet involved to clear KYC and AML checks, creating additional regulatory compliance requirements. ARK is not seeking permission to list or quote the shares on decentralized finance platforms, and the firm has not named a specific blockchain or tokenization provider for the proposed share class. The application specifically states that "applicants are not seeking exemptive relief with respect to whether or how distributed ledger technology is used by a Fund to maintain a record of its shareholders."
ARK Venture Fund operates as a continuously offered closed-end interval fund and reported $562 million in total assets as of January 31. According to the filing, the fund's existing Class D, Class S and Class U shares were priced at $49.83, $49.69 and $49.70 respectively as of May 15, with an aggregate non-affiliate market value of approximately $912.6 million. The fund's existing Class D, Class S and Class U shares were priced at $49.83, $49.69 and $49.70 respectively as of May 15, with an aggregate non-affiliate market value of approximately $912.6 million. The venture fund launched in 2022 as an interval fund focused on both public and private companies in the innovation economy, targeting quarterly repurchase offers at roughly 5% of net asset value with a minimum investment of just $500. The fund operates separately from ARK's better-known ARK Innovation ETF, which had $6.55 billion in assets as of the reporting date. The application notes that **"the application for that order, ARK writes, 'included a representation that 'shares of the Funds will not be listed on any securities exchange, nor quoted on any quotation medium.'
ARK already maintains financial connections to tokenization company Securitize through the venture fund. As reported by crypto.news and ChainCatcher, the fund's portfolio holds Securitize equity and a $10 million convertible note carrying a 5% interest rate and maturing in September 2028. The fund acquired this note on September 30, 2025, and Securitize has expanded its institutional tokenization business this year, serving as the transfer agent and tokenization platform for BlackRock's BUIDL fund. The fund also holds approximately $10 million in Securitize as of late 2025, a platform that specializes in tokenizing real-world assets. Securitize went public on the NYSE in July 2026 and has signed tokenization deals across registered products. From investing in tokenization service providers to applying for the tokenization of fund shares, ARK's actions reflect a consistent extension of its value chain: from building on-chain infrastructure to personally launching product pilots.
If approved, ARK would become one of the first US fund managers to offer tokenized shares through a regulated structure, potentially beating heavyweights like BlackRock and Fidelity to the market. According to crypto.news and ChainCatcher, the application essentially creates a regulatory template that other fund managers could follow. The existing order allows the ARK Venture Fund to operate with multiple share classes and early withdrawal charges, and the new request would build upon this foundation. The document at the center of the story, dated August 24, 2026 and published August 26, is a notice of an application carrying Investment Company Act Release 36308, File 812-16031, and it is not a final order granting the requested relief, per the SEC notice. The SEC has not yet formally approved the industry-anticipated "innovation exemption" framework for tokenization, with related rules still under development. The hearing request deadline is anticipated around mid-September 2026, after which the SEC could act relatively quickly if no hearing is ordered, or face a considerably extended timeline if a hearing is called. The Bank of New York Mellon currently serves as ARK Venture Fund's transfer agent, administrator and custodian, while the SEC is separately rewriting transfer agent rules for blockchain records with comments due November 3 on the proposed overhaul. The SEC on September 1 also proposed its first overhaul of transfer agent rules in roughly four decades, citing the use of "blockchain technology in connection with securities offerings and the transfer of shares."
