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Grove, Part of the Sky Ecosystem, Announced Industry’s Largest Allocation to a Tokenized Strategy
Grove Labs Leverages Significant Experience Working Across Credit, DeFi, and Technology, to Develop Grove as the Gateway Between TradFi and DeFi
Grove to Advance TradFi to DeFi Convergence by Bringing First CLO Strategy Onchain
CANNES, France–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Grove, an institutional-grade credit infrastructure protocol designed to serve as the liquidity engine of Decentralized Finance (”DeFi”), today emerged from stealth with a $1 billion allocation from the Sky Ecosystem (formerly MakerDAO) into the Janus Henderson Anemoy AAA CLO Strategy (JAAA), a tokenized, onchain vehicle launched in partnership with Centrifuge, using Grove’s decentralized infrastructure. The Sky ecosystem approved an allocation deployed using the Grove protocol infrastructure in the Janus Henderson Anemoy AAA CLO Strategy, the first CLO strategy to be available onchain. This milestone follows the breakout success of the Janus Henderson Anemoy Treasury Fund (JTRSY), one of the top five tokenized Treasury funds by AUM, launched earlier this year in collaboration between Centrifuge and Janus Henderson. Following that strong market adoption, Janus Henderson selected Centrifuge again to bring their flagship credit strategy onchain. Managed by the same portfolio managers behind Janus Henderson’s $21 billion AAA CLO ETF, this strategy offers global onchain investors an institutional-grade solution which seeks capital preservation with attractive yield—and an answer to the growing question: what comes after tokenized T-Bills?
As traditional asset managers seek access to a new channel of DeFi balance sheet capital and crypto-native protocols seek access to yield-bearing real-world asset (RWA) strategies onchain, Grove’s decentralized infrastructure launches as a solution. The non-custodial protocol serves as a secure DeFi-to-Traditional Finance (“TradFi”) capital highway that increases capital efficiency, reduces friction, and unlocks access to diversified credit investment opportunities on and offchain.
Grove, as a Star within the decentralized Sky Ecosystem, was incubated by Grove Labs, a subsidiary of Steakhouse Financial, with Mark Phillips, Kevin Chan, and Sam Paderewski as Co-Founders. Steakhouse Financial, who, in collaboration with Sky, were innovators in bringing RWAs to DeFi, provides capital formation, credit structuring, risk management, and strategic advisory services with clients across both TradFi and DeFi. The team building Grove began their careers in TradFi working across management consulting, structured finance, and product engineering, including at companies such as Deloitte, BlockTower Capital, Hildene Capital Management, and Citigroup, before transitioning to roles in DeFi. With financial markets undergoing a generational transformation, they are uniquely positioned to bring traditional finance into DeFi in a safe, secure, and reliable way.
Grove delivers value across key stakeholder groups, including:
- Asset Managers: Establishes a new global distribution channel with programmable capital rails.
- Protocols/DAOs: Serves as a premier onchain capital partner and capital allocation conduit, allowing them to deploy idle capital and increase capital efficiency.
- DeFi Ecosystem: Provides increased credibility, durability, diversification, and long-term sustainability.
“Demand for access to TradFi asset classes in DeFi continues to build momentum, as evidenced by the rapid growth of tokenized treasuries to $7.3 billion from $500 million in 2023 with Treasury bills and other assets moving onchain. The launch of Grove comes at a pivotal time when TradFi and DeFi are converging and to serve as a gateway between these two critical financial ecosystems. CLOs are just one of the many assets ripe for movement into DeFi due to their attractive yield profile and structure, and we are excited to partner with Janus Henderson and Centrifuge on the debut application of Grove’s infrastructure,” said Sam Paderewski, Co-founder of Grove Labs. “With the launch of Grove, for the first time, protocols can access liquid, institutional-grade CLOs while maintaining the flexibility to pivot between DeFi and TradFi yield environments. This $1 billion allocation from the Sky ecosystem to JAAA is just an early step in supporting a robust onchain capital highway where institutional managers and DeFi protocols can securely, efficiently and transparently operate on an open blockchain.”
DeFi yields have historically declined during market downturns, while protocols, despite holding billions in reserves, have lacked secure and compliant channels to deploy capital efficiently. Through its capital routing and governance infrastructure, Grove allows idle onchain capital to be deployed into regulated, institutional-grade vehicles, empowering crypto-native organizations to integrate diversified, risk-adjusted yield strategies directly into their onchain operations without friction. The allocation of capital from Sky into JAAA marks the first application of Grove’s infrastructure.
“Last year, our pioneering AAA CLO strategy attracted the most inflows among all actively managed fixed income ETFs, underscoring the growing investor appetite for innovative fixed-income solutions. When Grove approached us to bring this strategy onchain, we were impressed by their clear vision for building the onchain economy,” said Nick Cherney, Head of Innovation at Janus Henderson Investors. “Our innovation strategy is focused on preparing for the possibility that blockchain technology will transform traditional finance in the long term. We are excited to partner with Grove and Centrifuge who share that vision, and are leaders in making it a reality. Bringing this actively managed credit strategy fully onchain is a huge leap forward in the integration of RWAs into DeFi. We look forward to a long-term partnership.”
“The Sky Ecosystem has a long history of bringing tokenized RWAs online to increase the stability and efficacy of the DAI and USDS stablecoins. As active community participants, the team behind Grove has played a critical role in unlocking the power of RWAs for DeFi,” said Rune Christensen, co-founder of Sky. “With the move to embrace CLOs, Grove, as a Star operating in the Sky Ecosystem, is showcasing their expertise and innovation in helping protocols and organizations modernize and diversify their portfolios of RWAs.”
“While tokenized treasuries have paved the way, there’s a growing demand for more diversified, high-quality assets onchain,” said Anil Sood, Chief Strategy and Growth Officer of Centrifuge. “Instead of simply wrapping an offchain ETF, together with Janus Henderson we’ve brought JAAA fully onchain, unlocking operational efficiencies, reducing intermediary costs, and expanding access to a broader, global base of capital allocators.”
To learn more about integrating the Grove protocol and allocation system, contact us at grove.finance, X, or LinkedIn.
About Grove
Grove is an institutional-grade credit infrastructure DeFi protocol designed to serve as the liquidity engine of Decentralized Finance. Incubated by Grove Labs as a Star within the decentralized Sky Ecosystem governance framework, Grove enables protocols, crypto-native organizations, and individual users to access institutional-grade yield. To learn more, visit grove.finance, X, and LinkedIn.
About Grove Labs
Grove Labs, a subsidiary of Steakhouse Financial, is a blockchain research and development organization dedicated to architecting the next generation of decentralized credit infrastructure. Co-founded by Mark Phillips, Kevin Chan, and Sam Paderewski, the team has facilitated over $5 billion of onchain capital allocations and brings deep expertise from both traditional and decentralized finance. Grove Labs builds open-source, non-custodial protocols and liquidity solutions that bridge institutional strategies with the DeFi world. Committed to fostering TradFi-DeFi convergence, Grove Labs advances financial innovation through rigorous research, collaborative partnerships, and production-ready software solutions.
About Janus Henderson
Janus Henderson Group is a leading global active asset manager dedicated to helping clients define and achieve superior financial outcomes through differentiated insights, disciplined investments, and world-class service. As of March 31, 2025, Janus Henderson had approximately US$373 billion in assets under management, more than 2,000 employees, and offices in 25 cities worldwide. The firm helps millions of people globally invest in a brighter future together. Headquartered in London, Janus Henderson is listed on the NYSE.
About Centrifuge
Centrifuge empowers asset managers to tokenize, manage, and distribute their funds onchain, while providing investors access to a diversified portfolio of high-quality tokenized assets. Founded in 2017 and backed by leading VCs, Centrifuge has been a driving force in the institutional adoption of tokenized assets and has championed industry initiatives including the Tokenized Asset Coalition, the Real-World Asset Summit, and the creation of widely recognized token standards.
About the Sky Ecosystem
Sky, formerly known as MakerDAO, is a decentralized protocol with the stablecoin USDS at its core. The protocol features Sky tokens (USDS, SKY), the Sky Savings Rate (SSR), Sky Token Rewards (STRs), SKY Staking, and more.
Sky Protocol is governed by a decentralized community and structured around two foundational frameworks: the Sky Agent Framework, which enables autonomous on-chain agents and allows founders to create Sky Stars, independent protocol units designed to foster fast-moving innovation at the margins of the ecosystem; and the Sky Atlas, a living, comprehensive set of governance rules developed through proposals and decentralized voting.
For more information about Sky Protocol, visit sky.money, Discord, Forum, or Twitter.
Sky and Grove are decentralized infrastructure. This communication does not constitute an offer to purchase or sell securities. No single entity controls user funds, makes investment decisions and deploys capital on its own. Users maintain full custody and control of their assets. This communication does not constitute investment advice.
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Disclaimer
This article is provided for information only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
