Janus Henderson, Centrifuge launch Nasdaq-100 fund on Stellar

Janus Henderson and tokenization platform Centrifuge have launched JQQQ, a blockchain-native fund seeking to track the Nasdaq-100 Index, exclusively on Stellar. The product is available to eligible investors outside the United States, adding equity-benchmark exposure to the asset manager’s expanding tokenized investment business.

The companies announced the launch on October 27, describing a fund designed for issuance and operation on public blockchain infrastructure. Centrifuge supplies the technology, while the investment strategy uses the Nasdaq-100 benchmark under license from Nasdaq. The arrangement combines an established investment-management structure with blockchain-based distribution.

JQQQ is legally structured as a segregated portfolio of Anemoy Capital SPC Limited, a British Virgin Islands company. Anemoy Asset Management Limited serves as investment manager, with Janus Henderson Investors US LLC acting as sub-investment manager. That distinction identifies the entities responsible for the investment structure behind the digital fund shares.

The launch builds on Janus Henderson’s existing blockchain-based investment activities. Cointelegraph reported that the manager’s institutional onchain strategies now exceed $1 billion, spanning US Treasuries, structured credit and equity exposure. JQQQ broadens that offering rather than marking the firm’s first move into tokenized finance.

The partners distinguish the product from arrangements that simply place representations of existing securities on a blockchain. Their announcement presents native issuance as a way to connect investment funds with digital distribution channels and financial applications. The significance lies in how fund shares could function within those systems, not in a change to the benchmark the strategy seeks to follow.

Potential applications include programmable portfolios and the use of shares as collateral in blockchain-based markets. Those possibilities are conditional, however: the announcement says lending, collateral and similar functions would depend on independent third parties, applicable law and investor eligibility. Janus Henderson does not offer, facilitate or endorse those activities as part of its management of the fund.

Access also remains restricted despite the use of public blockchain infrastructure. Cointelegraph, citing The Wall Street Journal, reported that the fund targets eligible non-US professional investors with a minimum investment of $100,000. A publicly accessible network therefore should not be confused with an unrestricted investment offering.

Investors receive indirect economic exposure rather than direct ownership of the underlying stocks, according to Cointelegraph. The launch disclosures also identify additional risks associated with blockchain networks, smart contracts, wallets and outside platforms. Technology failures could disrupt transfers or redemptions, while the investment itself remains exposed to losses.

Practical details will help determine how the product develops beyond its launch announcement. Unchained reported that the release did not specify a fee rate or subscription opening date. Any broader integration into blockchain-based financial applications will depend on the availability of third-party services and the restrictions governing their use.