Janus Henderson backs Ethena token, plans regulated USDe/ENA ETFs

Janus Henderson, the $480 billion asset manager, has taken a position in Ethena’s governance token ENA through its ANTIK blockchain venture and will use staked USDe for cash management, the firms said in a statement on Tuesday. The partners said they will work on regulated investment vehicles tied to USDe and ENA, targeting a launch in the second half of 2026. They did not disclose the size of Janus Henderson’s ENA holding.\n\nEthena issues USDe, a dollar-pegged stablecoin, and ENA, a governance token that controls protocol parameters and incentives. Janus Henderson plans to integrate ANTIK with Ethena’s tokenized infrastructure and to include staked USDe among instruments used for short-term cash management.\n\nEthena will add Janus Henderson’s JAAA strategy to USDe’s reserve portfolio. The JAAA strategy invests in AAA-rated collateralized loan obligations; Ethena expects the addition to increase the share of highly rated fixed-income collateral backing the stablecoin.\n\nJanus Henderson has moved into tokenized real-world assets since late 2024. In September 2024 the firm took over management of the $11 million Anemoy Liquid Treasury Fund, a tokenized fund that invests in short-term U.S. Treasury bills. The firm is also listed as a partner in a new infrastructure project that can provide up to $1 billion in daily stablecoin liquidity for tokenized assets.\n\nMarket response included a drop in ENA’s price. The token traded near $0.08 and was down about 6.8% over the prior 24 hours.\n\nEthena founder Guy Young described the partnership as an opportunity to bring Ethena’s products to institutional investors in a manner that is ‘accessible, familiar, and built for scale.'\n\nThe partners said the regulated vehicles under development could include exchange-traded funds and exchange-traded products. They stated the goal is to give institutional investors access to Ethena’s tokenized products through familiar, regulated formats.