Janus Henderson Opens Nasdaq-100 Fund on Blockchain, but US Investors Must Wait

Janus Henderson and the tokenization firm Centrifuge launched a fund on Tuesday that tracks the Nasdaq-100 Index and runs on the Stellar blockchain, CoinDesk reported. The fund trades as JQQQ. Individual investors in Northeast Philadelphia cannot buy it yet.

Access is limited to eligible non-US professional investors who can commit at least $100,000, according to Crypto Briefing. That leaves US residents, and small investors generally, outside the initial group.

What Makes JQQQ Different

The Wall Street Journal described JQQQ as the first licensed tokenized fund to track the Nasdaq-100. A tokenized fund records ownership of a traditional investment as digital tokens on a blockchain.

Nasdaq opened up licensing of its index to other money managers earlier this year, the WSJ reported.

CoinDesk said the structure differs from third-party stock tokens. Janus Henderson issues and manages the fund, Centrifuge supplies the blockchain infrastructure, and Nasdaq licenses the index.

Crypto Briefing said the license is the main selling point for institutional buyers. Index providers control who can build official products on their benchmarks, and some crypto projects have offered synthetic stock exposure without that approval.