ARK Invest Seeks Approval for CoinDesk 20 Crypto Index ETFs - A Bold Move in 2026’s Digital Asset Landscape
ARK Invest just filed for a suite of ETFs tracking the CoinDesk 20 Index—a direct play on institutional crypto adoption.
The Regulatory Gauntlet
Getting this greenlit won't be a walk in the park. The SEC's stance has evolved, but approval hinges on proving these aren't just speculative vehicles. ARK's argument? They're offering diversified, rules-based exposure to the established pillars of the crypto economy.
Why the CoinDesk 20 Index Matters
Forget chasing moonshots. This index filters for liquidity and real-world use, focusing on the heavyweights with staying power. It's a curated basket designed to mitigate single-asset volatility—something traditional finance types claim to love until they see the returns.
The Ripple Effect for Investors
If approved, this opens a floodgate. It provides a familiar, 'wrapper' for advisors and funds still hesitant to touch a crypto exchange directly. Suddenly, allocating to digital assets becomes another checkbox in a portfolio model—albeit one that moves about 10x faster.
A cynical take? Wall Street finally figured out how to charge a management fee on decentralization. The innovation is real, but the middlemen always find a way.
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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