ARK Invest seeks approval for CoinDesk 20 crypto index ETFs

Cathie Wood’s ARK Investment Management has taken a bold step into diversified cryptocurrency investment products by filing with U.S. regulators to launch two new exchange‑traded funds (ETFs) tied to the CoinDesk 20 crypto index, a major milestone in bringing broader crypto market exposure into traditional markets beyond just Bitcoin.

The filings, submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on January 23, propose ETFs that would track the CoinDesk Crypto 20 Index, a benchmark measuring the performance of 20 leading digital assets by adjusted market capitalization.

One ETF would cover Bitcoin and large altcoins like Ether, Solana, XRP, and Cardano, while another fund would exclude Bitcoin and use long index futures and short Bitcoin futures.

Ark Invest to list the new ETFs on NYSE Arca

ARK Invest’s new ETFs are set to debut on NYSE Arca, as the asset manager joins other companies vying for investors in diversified crypto ETFs. Late last year, WisdomTree also filed to register a CoinDesk 20 Fund in Delaware, marking a preliminary step toward a U.S.-listed ETF tracking the CoinDesk 20 index of the largest cryptocurrencies by market value. Moreover, similar to Cathie Wood’s firm, ProShares is seeking to introduce a CoinDesk Crypto 20 ETF that would track the index through derivatives rather than owning cryptocurrencies outright.

Meanwhile, aside from the planned ETF launches, Cathie Wood’s firm has been dipping its hand in several other investments. For instance, Wood snapped up $7.27 million worth of Netflix shares on January 21. ARK’s Next Generation Internet ETF added 83,368 shares of Netflix Inc. despite the streaming company’s recent earnings release, which showed mixed performance. Over the past six months, Netflix stock has lost over 31% of its value; nonetheless, it still represents a 150% gain over the past three years.

Around the same time, ARK Genomic Revolution ETF and ARK Innovation ETF collectively purchased 89,501 shares of Tempus AI, while ARKQ purchased 111,439 shares of WeRide Inc.

ARK Invest maintains its 2030 bullish Bitcoin projections

With one of its planned ETFs excluding Bitcoin, it raises questions about whether the company is losing faith in the asset. Nevertheless, speaking recently on Bitcoin, ARK’s David Puell said the next phase of the BTC market will be driven less by belief in the asset and more by the level and structure of investor exposure.

He remarked, “In prior cycles, a lot of the infrastructure was still being built. Now the question is no longer if you invest in Bitcoin, but how much Bitcoin you want and through what vehicle.” 

For the time being, he found, the ETFs and digital asset treasury structures already have absorbed about 12% of Bitcoin’s total supply, well above expectations, and have been a significant source of price movement through 2025 — a trend he said would only continue into 2026. But he noted that, although demand has surged, early Bitcoin holders are taking profits at price peaks.

However, the firm still has a bullish long-term outlook for Bitcoin, with a bear case around 2030 of roughly $300,000, a base case near $710,000, and a bull case of about $1.5 million per Bitcoin. Bitcoin fuels the firm’s lower and base-case estimates, and institutional adoption is the largest driver of the bull-case projections, according to Puell.

He further commented that macro conditions — possibly the end of U.S. monetary tightening — could bolster Bitcoin, as risk assets generally thrive amid elevated liquidity. He remarked, “For bitcoin, U.S. liquidity matters more than global M2.”

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