Ark Invest Seeks to Launch Venture Fund

Proposed product would invest in the public, privately placed or restricted securities of companies involved in “disruptive innovation,” including blockchain companies and bitcoin

article-image

Ark CEO Cathie Wood | Blockworks exclusive art by Axel Rangel

share

key takeaways

  • The Ark Venture Fund may invest in companies that “develop, use or rely on” blockchain technologies, as well as the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC)
  • Proposed interval fund would conduct quarterly repurchase offers of the fund’s shares

Ark Invest has filed to launch a venture fund that would invest in companies involved in disruptive innovation, including those related to crypto and blockchain technologies.

The New York-based investment firm has nine exchange-traded funds trading in the US with combined assets of roughly $22 billion.

But the new fund will be structured as an interval fund, meaning it would conduct quarterly repurchase offers for an expected 5% of the fund’s shares, according to a disclosure filed Thursday.

It would invest in public, as well as privately placed or restricted, securities. The fund has a minimum initial investment of $1,000.

Such companies the Ark Venture Fund seeks to invest in include those involved in revolutionizing genomics and transforming automation and energy usage, as well as businesses focused on artificial intelligence, financial technology and the next generation of the internet.

This comprises companies that “develop, use or rely on” blockchain technologies, the filing notes. The fund may also have exposure to cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin, indirectly through an investment in the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC).

An Ark spokesperson declined to comment further on the proposed fund.

Bloomberg Intelligence Analyst James Seyffart said in a Twitter post that the interval fund structure makes sense for Ark’s investment strategy.

“Can buy semi-private investments, control inflows & outflows, close the fund,” he wrote in the tweet. “All of this will allow Ark to dig deeper into smaller names and worry a bit less about liquidity risk.”

Ark Invest and 21Shares in June filed for a physically backed bitcoin ETF, a type of product that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has not yet approved. More recently, the firm teamed up with 21Shares in an effort to bring a bitcoin futures-based ETF to market.

Ark founder and CEO Cathie Wood said in November 2020 at a virtual Barron’s conference that she believes bitcoin could hit $500,000 in the long-term. She shared bullish comments about crypto technologies more broadly during a Jan. 25 webinar.

“We do think that decentralized finance will usurp the role of most financial services companies today,” she noted as part of the discussion with MSNBC’s Chris Hayes.

Ark’s “Big Ideas” report published last month predicts that ether’s market capitalization — currently at roughly $345 billion — could exceed $20 trillion in the next 10 years.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Brooklyn, NY

SUN - MON, JUN. 22 - 23, 2025

Blockworks and Cracked Labs are teaming up for the third installment of the Permissionless Hackathon, happening June 22–23, 2025 in Brooklyn, NY. This is a 36-hour IRL builder sprint where developers, designers, and creatives ship real projects solving real problems across […]

recent research

Research Report Templates.png

Research

Maple Finance has successfully navigated significant market challenges through its strategic pivot to secured lending (Maple v2) and the launch of its Syrup product. Syrup has become a primary growth driver, delivering sustainable, outperforming stablecoin yields and rapidly increasing TVL. The upcoming custody-first Bitcoin staking product (istBTC) presents another significant avenue for expansion. Crucially, Maple has achieved operational profitability, a key inflection point that, combined with a fully vested token and active buyback mechanism, strengthens its investment case. While valuation metrics suggest potential undervaluation relative to peers and growth, the primary forward-looking risk identified is the long-term sustainability of its current high-take-rate collateral staking revenue model.

article-image

In 2014, Microsoft virus scanners were detecting viruses in Bitcoin software

article-image

Ledn’s Mauricio Di Bartolomeo explained how this cycle’s been different for the lender

article-image

The shorts looking for funding range from charming animated series to gritty live-action dramas

article-image

Money, it turns out, is emergent, like consciousness

article-image

Bridge flows churn in both directions as risk appetite returns