ARK Invest, the asset management firm led by Cathie Wood, has filed with US regulators to launch two new cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that will track the CoinDesk 20 – a benchmark for the most liquid digital assets, including bitcoin, ether, solana, XRP and cardano.
Instead of holding crypto directly, the proposed ETFs would rely on cash-settled, regulated futures contracts to mimic the daily performance of the index.
While one fund will track the CoinDesk 20, the other will track that index but exclude bitcoin by pairing long index futures with short bitcoin futures.
Both products are designed to provide investors with diversified access to crypto assets without the complexities of custody or direct token ownership. The funds will be listed on NYSE Arca, although the exchange has yet to file a 19b-4 form with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), an important step in making the filings official and beginning the approval process.
The ARK filing follows similar efforts by asset managers WisdomTree and ProShares, which have also proposed crypto index ETFs using regulated futures. Neither application has yet been approved for trading, leaving a gap in the market for diversified crypto exposure through ETFs.
While ARK has already made headlines with its involvement in spot bitcoin ETFs, these latest products signal a push toward broader coverage of the crypto market.
