Author: Alea Research
Compiled by Deep潮 TechFlow
DeepChaohao Summary: In the real-world asset (RWA) tokenization space, assets under management (AUM) are often viewed as the sole gold standard for measuring protocol success. However, Centrifuge’s remarkable performance in Q3 shattered this linear perception: despite two institutional whales withdrawing funds, causing a sharp 40% drop in fund size, the protocol’s total fund fee revenue increased by 2.8%逆势.
The secret behind this fee paradox lies in a qualitative shift in asset composition. The higher-fee AAA-rated corporate bond fund, JAAA, replaced the low-fee Treasury fund, JTRSY, propelling Centrifuge to second place in the industry with a combined yield of 39 basis points per dollar. Yet, behind the glossy unit profitability, CFG governance token holders find themselves trapped in a brutal governance vacuum—with zero returns.
This article provides an in-depth analysis of Centrifuge’s unique fee funnel, the large-scale asset migration by institutional investors, and the underlying利益博弈 behind the restructuring proposal CP172, revealing the institutional gaps in real-world asset (RWA) protocols’ ability to capture true economic value for investors.
In the third quarter of 2026, each dollar of assets under Centrifuge’s funds generated higher fee revenue: despite a 9% decline in the average total size of the funds, overall fund fees increased by 2.8%.
The stablecoin USDe issuer, Ethena, previously significantly increased its holdings in JAAA, an AAA-rated collateralized loan obligation (CLO) fund, whose fee rate is exactly twice that of the short-term Treasury fund JTRSY.
However, by September, Grove, the core funding provider for the Sky stablecoin protocol, redeemed the majority of its JTRSY, while Ethena also withdrew most of its JAAA. Today, what will fill the substantial gap left by this capital outflow?
Chart: Bridge breakdown of fund fees from Q2 to Q3 2026 (Source: Alea Research)
The shift of funds to JAAA generated $145,000 in additional fee income, fully offsetting the $123,000 loss caused by the decline in fund size.
JAAA charges an annual management fee of 0.50%, while JTRSY charges only 0.25%. JAAA contributed 22 basis points to the overall fee in the third quarter, up from 15 basis points in the second quarter.
Key Points
Total fund expenses increased by 2.8%逆势 to $1.35 million in the third quarter, while the average total valuation of the funds declined by 9% during the same period. These expenses were fully retained by the management teams of the respective funds, with no portion distributed to CFG holders.
As Grove reduced its Treasury fund and Ethena redeemed most of JAAA, Centrifuge’s fund assets plummeted by 40% to $931 million. In comparison, the median change in assets for the other 13 tokenized fund issuers in Q3 was -0.2%.
Excluding Grove and Ethena, the holdings of external independent holders increased by 45% to $131 million, with the number of addresses holding over $1,000 rising from 58 to 81. Among these, JAAA on Aave Horizon contributed an additional $32.9 million.
As of October 1, Grove’s liquidity pool, Basin, held $100 million in reserves to enable immediate redemption for JTRSY holders. Grove governance voting subsequently approved a credit limit of $1.5 billion.
The community approved Governance Proposal CP172 with an overwhelming 98.5% in favor, allowing 1 CFG to be exchanged for 1 share of Centrifuge, Inc. The voting participation rate reached 10.6% of the total CFG circulating supply.
Per dollar of fund AUM, Centrifuge's funds generate more revenue than the vast majority of fund issuer peers.
Chart: Comparison of the Top Seven Tokenized Fund Issuers Ranked by Revenue per Dollar (Source: Alea Research)
In the third quarter, Centrifuge's funds earned an average of 39 basis points per dollar, ranking second among the six revenue-generating fund issuers and significantly above the median of 23 basis points for the other five.
Its credit funds explain this high fee level: Spiko, Superstate, and BlackRock’s BUIDL Treasury funds yield only 16 to 24 basis points. However, as Grove redemptions increased and Spiko expanded aggressively, Centrifuge’s share of total AUM among the seven issuers dropped from 11.2% to 6.5% in Q3.
The fund management fee belongs to the manager.
Anemoy, established specifically to develop Centrifuge fund offerings, has issued some of the largest funds and has Janus Henderson serving as investment advisor for JTRSY and JAAA.
All management fees flow entirely to these two entities, and the fund terms disclose no profit-sharing ratio; CFG token holders have no access to this revenue.
Proposal CP172 plans to exchange CFG tokens for shares in Centrifuge, Inc., which aims to wholly own all subsidiaries under its holding group.
However, no legal document has yet confirmed the company’s right to a share of the fund management fees: the CP162 proposal, which previously suggested in August 2025 that the Foundation collect Anemoy fees, expired on September 18, 2025, due to failing to meet the required quorum for voting.
Grove rotated out of the treasury fund but retained JAAA.
Changes in fee income strictly followed Grove’s asset rotation trajectory. Grove significantly reduced its holdings of government bond funds across all issuers but firmly maintained its credit-related assets.
Chart: Grove's asset holdings changes from June 30, 2026, to September 30, 2026 (Source: Grove disclosure data)
Grove retained only 36% of its original JTRSY and 17% of its BUIDL, while its JAAA position remained stable at a high of $394 million.
It will redirect the withdrawn cash into warehouse loan facilities partnered with Galaxy and inject it into the Morpho vault. For Centrifuge, this rotation precisely retains higher-yielding funds while withdrawing lower-yielding ones.
However, Ethena's withdrawal directly hit the high-yield funds. Ethena redeemed a total of $2.0 billion in JAAA between September 21 and 22, and its holdings have remained at $1.05 billion since September 23.
During this period, the issuance of USDe did not contract; instead, Ethena simply shifted these funds into institutional lending, increasing its backing from $508 million to $686 million between September 14 and October 20.
How to fill the fund gap
Based on the asset balance as of September 30, the fund's annualized fee income is currently approximately $3.81 million, a 29% decrease from the annualized level of $5.34 million in the third quarter.
To close this revenue gap, it is essential to attract new subscription capital. The holding experience for these funds has significantly improved: JTRSY now enables large-scale instant exits via Grove’s Basin, and Aave has substantially increased the loan-to-value ratio for JAAA.
Chart: Estimation of new funding required to offset capital outflows (Source: Alea Research)
To return fee income to the high pace of Q3, approximately $307 million in new JAAA funding (equivalent to 1.2 times Ethena’s June allocation size) or $614 million in new JTRSY subscriptions is required.
Grove's Basin enables immediate settlement and cancellation of repurchased shares for departing JTRSY holders, significantly accelerating capital exit efficiency without generating additional management fees.
On October 17, Aave significantly increased the loan-to-value (LTV) ratio for JAAA on Horizon from 81% to 87%, enabling higher yield returns for leveraged position holders as long as JAAA’s yield remains above the borrowing rate.
The overall assessment remains positively constructive. Although the two major funding sources have sequentially exited, the fund’s total income still increased, as the remaining funds are anchored in credit assets yielding twice that of government bonds.
The final fee level for the fourth quarter will be determined on December 31: if the weighted average fee remains above the third quarter’s 37 basis points, it will indicate that the strategic shift toward higher-fee credit assets has fully taken root.