Ethena Labs Partners With Janus Henderson to Launch Tokenized CLO Fund and Distribute USDe

Ethena Labs partnered with Janus Henderson to launch a tokenized collateralized loan obligation (CLO) fund, with Janus Henderson also making a strategic investment in Ethena’s governance token ENA while the firms explored using Ethena’s synthetic dollar USDe for treasury management and possible ETF distribution.

“Ethena lands Janus Henderson backing as asset manager invests in ENA, eyes USDe distribution The deal underscores the trend of traditional asset managers backing DeFi infrastructure, following BlackRock's Uniswap and Apollo's Morpho investments”

@coindesk

Crypto Briefing said Janus Henderson Investors, managing $480 billion in assets, is teaming up with the synthetic dollar protocol to distribute tokenized AAA-rated collateralized loan obligation funds, putting institutional-grade corporate credit inside Ethena’s USDe framework for the first time.

@coindesk

CoinDesk reported that Janus Henderson plans to allocate treasury cash into USDe and explore distributing the yield token through exchange-traded products, after the asset manager made a strategic investment in Ethena’s ENA.

CoinDesk also said ENA jumped 5% following the announcement before paring gains, and that it was down 8% over the past 24 hours as broader crypto markets slipped.

Crypto Briefing added that the firms are exploring regulated exchange-traded products linked to USDe, with a potential launch window in the second half of 2026.

Nick Cherney, head of innovation at Janus Henderson Investors, told CoinDesk, "We are really excited about the possibility here," and said, "We believe very deeply that innovation in blockchain is being led by the defi community."

CoinDesk framed the deal as a continuation of traditional finance firms backing DeFi infrastructure, noting that earlier this year BlackRock expanded its tokenized money market fund through a partnership with Uniswap and invested an undisclosed amount in the decentralized exchange's UNI token.

Crypto Briefing

The Defiant described the partnership as a multi-part effort that includes integrating Janus Henderson's JAAA strategy into Ethena's reserve portfolio for USDe and deploying staked USDe, or sUSDe, as part of treasury cash management.

The Defiant also said the fourth leg is a firm commitment that Janus Henderson and Ethena will jointly develop regulated investment vehicles, including exchange-traded funds and exchange-traded products, for both USDe and ENA with a target rollout in the second half of 2026.

Crypto Briefing said Ethena will allocate capital to Janus Henderson’s JAAA tokenized fund, which mirrors the firm’s $27 billion off-chain AAA CLO ETF strategy.

Crypto Briefing said the deal puts institutional-grade corporate credit into Ethena’s USDe framework and that the two firms are exploring regulated exchange-traded products linked to USDe, with a potential launch window in the second half of 2026.

“Ethena partners with Janus Henderson to distribute tokenized CLO funds The $480 billion asset manager is investing in Ethena's governance token and exploring USDe-linked exchange-traded products”

Crypto Briefing

Crypto Briefing also described USDe as backing roughly $5 billion in assets today, down from a peak of around $15 billion, and said adding AAA-rated CLOs to the collateral mix is a direct play at rebuilding confidence.

CoinDesk reported that after reaching roughly $15 billion in assets during last year's market rally, the protocol currently manages about $5 billion as crypto markets continue to recover from a prolonged downturn.

Crypto Briefing warned that CLOs, even AAA-rated ones, behaved unpredictably during the 2008 financial crisis and that wrapping them in blockchain technology doesn’t eliminate credit risk; it changes the delivery mechanism.

CoinDesk added that the firms are exploring ways to offer USDe to Janus Henderson clients through exchange-traded investment products, while The Defiant said the partnership distinguishes itself by covering both USDe and ENA in the regulated-product pipeline.