The S&P 500 Is Now Onchain 24/7

@centrifuge has launched deSPXA on @base, marking what the protocol describes as the first tokenized S&P 500 exposure that trades around the clock onchain. The product gives non-US users tokenized exposure to the Anemoy S&P 500 Index Fund (SPXA), built under license from S&P Dow Jones Indices and managed by Janus Henderson, and is live on Base.

Unlike tokenized ETFs, deSPXA can be minted and redeemed at NAV by non-US authorized participants, similar to how traditional ETFs operate, and it is the first 24/7 tradeable product with exposure to an equity index fund. The announcement was made at Consensus 2026 by Base creator @jessepollak, who signalled that sports, credit, and equities are all coming onchain next.

Institutional Backing and the deRWA Framework

The launch carries significant institutional weight. Coinbase named @centrifuge a preferred tokenization infrastructure partner, with Coinbase Ventures taking a strategic stake to accelerate institutional asset issuance on Base. The collaboration brings together trusted benchmark data from S&P Dow Jones Indices, institutional asset management from Janus Henderson, and Centrifuge's tokenization infrastructure to deliver world-class digital native, investable indices onchain.

deSPXA is the flagship product of Centrifuge's deRWA framework, a structure designed to let tokenized assets interact natively with DeFi protocols while keeping institutional compliance intact. The integration is built on Centrifuge V3, with Chronicle delivering real-time, verifiable pricing data for the underlying assets, while LayerZero will power future multichain expansion and Keyrock provides market making services.

The collaboration will help enable S&P DJI-licensed asset managers to launch programmable, compliant index-tracking funds using smart contracts and S&P DJI's official daily index files, marking one of the first times S&P DJI has licensed its indices directly to providers of onchain financial solutions.

A Growing Market Still Locked in Permissioned Wallets

The tokenized asset market has crossed $25 billion, but the next phase of growth will be defined by distribution, usability, and trust, with the deRWA framework built for that shift. The core problem it targets is one of interoperability: most tokenized assets currently sit in permissioned wallets with no meaningful DeFi composability.

According to data from rwa.xyz and PYMNTS, the on-chain RWA market excluding stablecoins reached approximately $26 billion in March 2026, up from roughly $6.5 billion a year earlier, a growth rate of around 300 percent. Yet scale alone has not solved accessibility. deSPXA marks a structural shift in how tokenized assets are issued, distributed, and used, as for the first time exposure to an equity index fund will be liquid and tradeable 24/7, unlocking novel DeFi use cases.

The product is available exclusively to eligible non-US persons in reliance on Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933 and is not available to US persons or in any jurisdiction where such an offering would be unlawful.

Sources:
Centrifuge: deSPXA on Base Launch Announcement
Centrifuge: S&P 500 Proof-of-Index Infrastructure
Finextra: Tokenized RWA 2026 Market Analysis