Kraken Institutional adds tokenized AAA CLO JAAA for flexible custody and trading

Kraken Institutional has teamed up with tokenization platform Centrifuge to let clients hold real-world assets in qualified custody – and actually use them. The first asset on the menu: JAAA, Janus Henderson’s flagship AAA CLO strategy, now available in tokenized form.

This isn’t a simple “store it” setup. Institutions that park JAAA in Kraken Custody can earn the underlying fund yield, borrow against it, trade via Kraken Prime, or deploy it into a vault for extra returns. All of that happens without moving the assets out of custody or adding a new counterparty. Settlement runs 24/7 – no waiting for T+2 or traditional market hours.

JAAA is a staple for yield-seeking institutional treasuries: investment-grade, short-duration, and built from AAA-rated collateralized loan obligations. The tokenized version keeps that exposure but adds onchain utility. “Janus Henderson is committed to being the premier provider of institutional quality tokenized products in DeFi,” said Nick Cherney, the firm’s Head of Innovation. “That vision can only be realized alongside partners like Kraken and Centrifuge.”

Centrifuge is one of the earliest and largest platforms focused on bringing real-world assets onchain. CEO Bhaji Illuminati framed the deal in practical terms: “Tokenization only matters if assets can be put to work. Bringing JAAA into Kraken Custody means institutions can hold, earn, and deploy tokenized assets within a single framework.”

For institutional treasury managers, the old playbook forced a choice: park capital in TradFi yield products or move it into crypto for trading and DeFi strategies. RWAs in qualified custody kill that trade-off. The same JAAA position can sit in a regulated custodian, earn its coupon, and still serve as active collateral for borrowing or spot trading – all within one relationship.

Kraken says more tokenized assets are coming as the partnership expands. The next step: watch which issuers follow Janus Henderson through the Centrifuge pipeline and whether other major custody providers open similar functionality for RWAs. If tokenized CLOs and Treasuries become standard collateral in crypto prime brokerage, the line between traditional capital markets and onchain finance just got a lot thinner.