The Real World Specialist Centrifuge has launched what it calls the first licensed S&P 500 index fund on blockchain rails opening one of the world’s most recognized capital-bound to on-chain investors.
Janus Henderson Anemoy S&P 500 Foundation, called SPXA, went live on Thursday at Base, an Ethereum Layer-2 network developed by Crypto Exchange Coinbase.
The offer is the first tokenized index fund licensed by the S&P Dow Jones indexes. It allows the S&P 500, a wide basket of the largest listed US companies covering approx. 80% of the US stock market, to shop around the clock with transparent holdings.
Falconx, a digital asset mediation, was an anchor investor in the product, while Wormhole, a Cross-Chain Messaging protocol, will handle future expansion to other blockchains. Janus Henderson, a London-based global asset manager with nearly $ 500 billion in AUM, serves as Sub-Investment Manager, while Centrifuge’s Asset Management Arm Anemoy oversees the fund.
The initiative fits into a broader tendency to bring traditional financial instruments such as bonds, funds and equities, often called assets in the real world (RWA), on blockchain rails. Supporters examine tokenization for operational gains, faster settlements and trade around the clock.
Centrifuge, which has built up infrastructure for tokenization of private credit and fixed income since 2017, sees SPXA as its entrance point in shares, a tokenization trend that has recently started.
“Indexes are the best way to bring shares on the chain,” Bhaji Illuminati, CEO of Centrifuge, said in a statement. “They are simple, safety -ready and unlock liquidity in ways that individual securities cannot.”
For the S&P Dow Jones indexes, the offer is a springboard to “build the future of index-bound financial products” Traditional financing products are beginning to migrate to blockchain environments, said Cameron Drinkwater, Chief Product Officer at S&P DJI.
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