Janus Henderson Launches First Nasdaq-Licensed Tokenized Fund
Janus Henderson is using Stellar and Centrifuge for a Nasdaq-100 fund with issuer involvement, a step beyond standalone stock tokens. It fits into the broader tokenization wave on Wall Street.
Key Takeaways
- Janus Henderson is launching JQQQ, a Nasdaq-100 fund on the Stellar blockchain, together with Centrifuge and Nasdaq.
- The fund uses an issuer-backed model, with Janus Henderson issuing and managing the fund itself.
- Janus Henderson says its onchain investment platform now includes more than $1 billion in Treasuries, credit products, and stocks.
Janus Henderson is taking another step in the tokenization of traditional investments with the launch of JQQQ, a fund that tracks the Nasdaq-100 and is issued on the Stellar blockchain. The asset manager, which has about $500 billion (€447 billion) under management, is choosing a model where the issuer itself issues and manages the fund, instead of a separate token that only tracks the price of stocks.
Issuer-backed model
For JQQQ, Janus Henderson is working with tokenization platform Centrifuge. Nasdaq is licensing the index, while Stellar provides the blockchain infrastructure. The fund tracks companies like Nvidia, Apple, and Microsoft and builds on the earlier launch of the Janus Henderson Anemoy S&P 500 Fund, which was introduced last year as the first tokenized index fund licensed by S&P Dow Jones Indices.
The choice of an issuer-sponsored fund is important in the debate over who is allowed to tokenize traditional securities. In this model, the issuer stays directly involved with the fund, while third-party stock tokens are often created without the company itself being involved. That difference matters, because investors in those tokens do not always own the underlying shares or get shareholder rights.
More Than Just Treasuries
Janus Henderson said its onchain investment platform now includes more than $1 billion (€0.9 billion) in Treasuries, structured credit products, and stocks. That shifts the focus beyond the first generation of tokenized products, which mainly centered on U.S. government bonds, money market funds, and private credit.
The move fits into a broader shift on Wall Street, where traditional investment products are increasingly being put on blockchain rails. Nasdaq itself previously said it was working on an equity token design built more around the issuer, with the goal of modernizing processes like corporate actions and shareholder communication. That lines up with the broader institutional interest in tokenization, such as the big U.S. banks that see tokenization mainly as an opportunity for new markets and more efficient financial infrastructure.
Why This Matters
For European crypto followers, this launch shows that tokenization is no longer just about isolated experiments with digital versions of existing assets. It is now also about funds that are designed from the start to be used on a blockchain. That could matter for how institutional players later handle collateral, transferability, and access to traditional markets, although regulation and platform support will still be key.
