Janus Henderson and tokenization company Centrifuge have launched JQQQ, a fund designed to track the Nasdaq-100 Index while issuing and operating its interests directly on the Stellar blockchain. The companies describe it as the first blockchain-native fund offering Nasdaq-100 exposure through an issuer-sponsored strategy. The structure brings a familiar equity benchmark onto public-ledger infrastructure, but it is not a U.S. retail product and does not give investors direct ownership of the index's constituent shares.

How the fund is structured

JQQQ is a segregated portfolio of Anemoy Capital SPC Limited, a British Virgin Islands segregated portfolio company. Anemoy Asset Management Limited is the investment manager, while Janus Henderson Investors US LLC serves as sub-investment manager. Centrifuge provides the infrastructure used to issue and operate the fund onchain, and Nasdaq licenses the index the strategy seeks to track. Janus Henderson said its broader onchain platform now covers more than $1 billion across Treasuries, structured credit and public equities.

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Issuer-sponsored rather than a third-party stock token

The partners emphasize that JQQQ was built for onchain issuance rather than created as a digital wrapper around an unrelated fund or a third-party token referencing individual stocks. That distinction identifies the investment manager, infrastructure provider and index licensor within the product's formal structure. It does not turn the fund token into shares of the companies inside the Nasdaq-100, however. Janus Henderson's disclosures say JQQQ provides indirect economic exposure and carries no shareholder rights in the underlying index.

Stellar provides the public ledger

The fund is launching exclusively on Stellar. Its blockchain-native design may allow eligible holders to move fund interests through digital distribution channels or connect them with compatible financial applications. The underlying investment objective remains conventional: seek to follow the performance of the Nasdaq-100. Tokenization changes the ownership and transfer infrastructure surrounding the fund; it does not remove tracking error, market risk or the possibility that the fund's value diverges from the benchmark.

Access is restricted

JQQQ is available only to eligible investors in jurisdictions where it can lawfully be offered and marketed, and the disclosure expressly excludes U.S. persons. That limitation matters because the strategy references a major U.S. equity index but is not being offered as a U.S. exchange-traded fund. Independent reporting described the initial audience as non-U.S. professional investors. Eligibility, distribution and transfer restrictions therefore remain part of the product even though the fund uses a public blockchain.

Onchain uses remain potential, not guaranteed

Janus Henderson and Centrifuge say blockchain-native fund interests could eventually support programmable portfolios, lending or collateral arrangements. The legal notes narrow that claim: any collateral, lending or similar functionality would be provided by independent third parties, may not be available in every jurisdiction and is neither managed nor endorsed by Janus Henderson. Investors should therefore distinguish the live fund from possible integrations that depend on separate platforms, rules and technical support.

What investors still need to assess

The launch does not eliminate familiar fund risks or the additional risks created by tokenization. Janus Henderson warns that failures involving blockchain networks, smart contracts, wallets or third-party platforms could delay transfers or redemptions or cause losses. The legal, tax and regulatory treatment of tokenized fund shares also continues to evolve. JQQQ's significance is the issuer-backed combination of an established index license and public-ledger operations; its practical adoption will depend on eligible demand, liquidity, operational resilience and the availability of compliant distribution channels.

Sources

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