Why can't you sell a tokenized interval fund back to the fund at any time?

You cannot sell a tokenized interval fund back to the fund at will: the token is the same share in the same fund, and interval funds have strict repurchase rules: they buy back shares a few times a year and only for 5–25% of shares outstanding. The token adds the option to sell your stake to another investor on a permitted venue, but there the buyer sets the price, not the fund's net asset value.

What exactly did ARK tokenize?#

On September 24, 2026, ARK Invest announced the tokenization of ARK Venture Fund (ARKVX) with Securitize (PR Newswire). It is an actively managed closed-end interval fund investing in private and public technology companies; named holdings include OpenAI, Anthropic, Stripe and Databricks. Net assets are about $1.3 billion, and according to Blockonomi the target mix is roughly 80% private and 20% public companies, with quarterly repurchase windows for about 5% of shares outstanding.

The tokens are issued on Ethereum. On September 21 the SEC granted the fund an amended order permitting shares whose ownership is recorded on a distributed ledger and allowing them to trade on regulated alternative trading systems (ATSs) and other quotation venues (Crypto Daily). The press release states plainly that liquidity is limited to periodic repurchase offers, which may be oversubscribed.

How do repurchases work in an interval fund?#

In the US, interval funds operate under SEC Rule 23c-3 (Cornell LII). Its key parameters:

• the fund makes a repurchase offer at intervals of 3, 6 or 12 months;
• the offer covers no less than 5% and no more than 25% of shares outstanding on the request deadline;
• the repurchase price is the net asset value (NAV) on the pricing date, which falls no later than 14 days after the request deadline;
• cash is paid within 7 days after the pricing date;
• if tenders exceed the offer, the fund may repurchase up to an extra 2% of shares, and the rest is allocated pro rata.

In practice, if the fund buys back 5% of shares each quarter, as reported for ARKVX, and 20% of investors want out, each gets cash for only part of the request: about 25% if exactly 5% of shares are bought back, and up to 35% if the fund uses the extra 2%. The remainder waits for the next window.

Why does the fund need such limits?#

Private companies cannot be sold quickly. OpenAI or Stripe shares do not trade on an exchange, and selling a stake can take months and come at a discount. If the fund promised daily redemptions, a rush for the exit would force it to sell its most liquid holdings, leaving remaining investors with an ever less liquid portfolio. The interval structure protects those who stay at the expense of those who want to leave.

Tokenization does not solve this. The portfolio stays the same, and its assets do not become more liquid because ownership is recorded on a blockchain.

How does selling a token differ from a fund repurchase?#

Trading on an ATS is a secondary market: you sell the token to another investor, not to the fund. Different rules apply:

• Price is set by demand. It can be above or below NAV. Exchange-listed closed-end funds often trade away from their net asset value in either direction, and the size of the gap cannot be known in advance.
• You need a buyer. If sellers outnumber buyers, a trade may only clear at a discount or not at all.
• Access is restricted. The release refers to "eligible investors", meaning participation is narrowed by qualification and identity checks.

"24/7 trading" describes the venue's operating hours, not market depth. At night and on weekends there may be very few buyers.

What limitations should you keep in mind?#

• ARKVX's repurchase terms (quarterly, about 5%) come from media reports and are not in the tokenization release; the binding terms are in the fund prospectus.
• There is no data yet on token trading on ATSs: volumes, spreads and deviation from NAV are unknown.
• The NAV of a fund holding private companies relies on valuations rather than market quotes and can lag real value.
• Rule 23c-3 is a US rule; tokenized funds in other jurisdictions may follow different rules.
• This article explains a mechanism and is not a recommendation to buy or sell fund shares.