Nasdaq-100 comes onchain as Janus Henderson and Centrifuge launch first licensed fund
Janus Henderson and Centrifuge have launched JQQQ, an issuer-sponsored onchain fund tracking the Nasdaq-100 Index on the Stellar blockchain.
The London-based asset manager, overseeing approximately $500 billion, has brought one of Wall Street's most recognized stock indexes onto blockchain infrastructure through this new offering. This launch follows the introduction of the Janus Henderson Anemoy S&P 500 Fund (SPXA) last year, which was the first tokenized index fund licensed by the S&P Dow Jones Indices.
JQQQ tracks the Nasdaq-100 Index, which includes major technology companies like Nvidia, Apple, and Microsoft. The fund is issued on the Stellar blockchain, with Janus Henderson handling issuance and management, Centrifuge providing blockchain infrastructure, and Nasdaq licensing the index.
Issuer-sponsored model
The JQQQ fund follows an issuer-sponsored model, differing from third-party stock tokens. In this structure, Janus Henderson directly issues and manages the fund, ensuring investors have direct exposure to the underlying assets with appropriate shareholder rights.
As investors explore new ways to access markets through digital infrastructure, demand continues to grow for exposure to established, transparent benchmarks.
This approach contrasts with third-party tokens, which may be backed by shares held in custody or structured as separate instruments tracking stock prices without necessarily providing ownership of the underlying shares or shareholder rights.
Expanding tokenization
The launch marks another step in Wall Street's broader effort to bring traditional investments onto blockchain rails, expanding beyond U.S. Treasuries, money market funds, and private credit into stock-market products. Janus Henderson reported its onchain investment platform now manages more than $1 billion across Treasuries, structured credit, and equities.
Such tokenized funds could eventually enable investors to use their holdings as collateral for loans or transfer them between blockchain-based financial applications, subject to regulatory requirements and platform support.
Tokenization becomes much more powerful when the assets investors want to own can also become building blocks for an onchain financial system.
The development comes amid an escalating debate over who gets to tokenize traditional securities, highlighted by recent objections from 22 companies to blockchain-based trading of their shares on the OKX-ICE venue.
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