How ETFs Inform the Next Phase of Tokenized Finance with Janus Henderson
“Blockchain will win because it unlocks entirely new possibilities, but none of them happen unless we start with incremental value that works today.”
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Nick Cherney is Head of Innovation at Janus Henderson Investors, a global asset manager overseeing more than $400 billion in assets. With over two decades of experience in ETFs and investment product development, Nick has been deeply involved in some of the most important structural shifts in modern asset management.
Nick began his career in the early days of ETFs at iShares, where he helped build the category inside what would later become BlackRock. He later founded VelocityShares in 2010, developing specialized exchange-traded products for institutional traders and hedge funds across volatility, commodities, and structured strategies.
Today at Janus Henderson, Nick focuses on how blockchain and tokenization intersect with traditional asset management. His work centers on practical adoption — identifying where on-chain infrastructure can deliver real, incremental value, both through tokenized funds serving DeFi-native demand and blockchain-based efficiencies embedded within traditional investment products.
Operating at the intersection of ETFs, institutional finance, and on-chain markets, Nick brings a pragmatic perspective on how tokenization can scale — and what it will take for on-chain finance to move beyond experimentation into meaningful adoption.
Please enjoy the following insights from Nick Cherney of Janus Henderson.
The iPhone Moment for Blockchain
Nick Cherney argues that on-chain finance today looks a lot like the internet before smartphones. The technology is advancing quickly, but its true impact won’t be felt until it reaches a critical mass — the equivalent of the App Store moment. Once enough of the financial system operates on-chain, entirely new business models will emerge, just as mobile internet unlocked companies like Uber.
🎬 Watch: When On-Chain Finance Will Have Its iPhone Moment
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Why Tokenization Has to Serve DeFi First
For tokenization to scale, traditional assets can’t just be re-issued on-chain — they have to be useful there. Cherney explains that the fastest path forward is integrating tokenized funds into existing DeFi businesses, where on-chain demand already exists. When traditional assets are actively used on-chain, liquidity will follow — that’s how the market will move through the adoption J-curve.
🎬 Watch: How Tokenized Assets Break Through the Adoption Curve
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Why “Tokenize and Sell” Isn’t a Strategy
Simply taking a traditional product, tokenizing it, and selling it on-chain doesn’t work. According to Cherney, value only emerges when tokenized assets are integrated into existing on-chain workflows and deliver real utility to DeFi-native users. That integration is what unlocks scale — and ultimately enables 10x or 100x growth.
🎬 Watch: What Makes Tokenized Assets Actually Valuable
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What Bitcoin ETFs Reveal About Investor Behavior
The success of Bitcoin ETFs doesn’t just show demand for crypto — it reveals how investors prefer to access it. Cherney notes that many buyers were willing to pay fees for an ETF rather than open a wallet or manage crypto directly. The lesson: adoption often comes from embedding new technology inside familiar wrappers, not asking users to change behavior.
🎬 Watch: The Real Lesson of Bitcoin ETF Adoption
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🎬 Watch the Full Episode
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