The Securities and Exchange Commission has granted ARK Venture Fund and ARK Investment Management amended exemptive relief under the Investment Company Act, permitting the creation of two new share classes for the same underlying investment product.
Under Release No. IC-36333, ARK Venture Fund can now establish an Exchange Class designed for listing on a national securities exchange, and a Tokenized Class whose ownership records can be maintained using distributed-ledger technology, with trading potentially occurring through alternative trading systems.
Regulatory Framework for Tokenized Funds
The SEC order addresses the legal structure needed for a registered fund to maintain a tokenized share class alongside conventional fund interests. The approval represents a significant step beyond simply recording fund ownership on blockchain as a marketing mechanism, instead establishing a framework for how blockchain-based ownership records can operate within the existing transfer, custody, and investor-protection requirements that apply to registered investment companies.
Regulatory Approval Versus Commercial Launch
The SEC's approval grants ARK the authority to create these share classes, but does not indicate that the Tokenized Class is currently trading or that ARK has announced an immediate commercial launch date. This makes the development primarily a regulatory infrastructure achievement rather than a product launch announcement.
The order represents growing movement toward tokenized funds transitioning from private-market experiments into structures designed to operate within established securities law frameworks. ARK now possesses regulatory clearance to build the new share classes, with the timing of their actual market introduction remaining a separate question.
