tl;dr
At the Crypto Valley Conference 2025, Franklin Templeton executives Catriona Kellas and Christian Leger discussed the firm's early commitment to crypto and tokenization, highlighting milestones like launching Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs and the world’s first tokenized US 40 Act money market fund using...
At the Crypto Valley Conference 2025, Catriona Kellas, International Legal Lead for Digital Projects at Franklin Templeton, and Christian Leger, Head of Switzerland at Franklin Templeton, shared insights on the firm’s long-term digital assets vision, pioneering tokenization projects, and the future of DeFi integration.
Catriona emphasized that Franklin Templeton’s conviction in crypto began early, recognizing Bitcoin’s potential back in 2018 and focusing on the underlying technology beyond just the asset class. Despite pausing some initiatives during the crypto winter, the firm maintained commitment, launching a Bitcoin ETF, Ethereum ETF, and other crypto-related funds. In 2021, they debuted the world’s first tokenized US 40 Act money market fund, built on proprietary tokenization technology, demonstrating its security to the SEC via public blockchains.
Christian highlighted that Franklin Templeton’s family-run structure supports long-term, innovative projects. CEO Jenny Johnson’s operational background and understanding of blockchain’s capacity to reduce transaction costs solidified the firm’s belief in the technology.
Stellar was chosen as the foundation blockchain for the tokenized fund due to its SEC-compliant token-level controls, cost-efficiency, and alignment with the firm’s objectives. Franklin Templeton also carefully assesses other blockchains globally, weighing factors like cost, smart contract support, privacy, audits, and reliability, all under traditional asset management’s rigorous due diligence standards adapted for the blockchain landscape.
Catriona noted that tokenization’s reach extends beyond financial markets, opening doors to asset classes such as intellectual property and cultural assets. The example of Rihanna tokenizing music rights illustrates how artists and fans can engage in novel ownership and investment models, broadening portfolio diversification.
The firm’s institutional approach to public blockchains stems from their transparency and validation benefits, contradicting the idea that private chains are inherently more secure. Their thorough evaluation proved select public blockchains satisfy stringent privacy and security demands.
On DeFi, Franklin Templeton is advancing beyond launching an on-chain fund to enabling peer-to-peer transfers and intraday yield payouts through a patent-pending system that attributes yield based on exact holding time. This innovation helps traditional assets compete with stablecoins in DeFi collateral use cases, expanding tokenized assets’ utility. The global rollout of Benji and its integration with DeFi applications aims to offer clients enhanced asset functionality, attracting a growing mix of novice and savvy investors as the industry shifts from fear to innovation.
Looking ahead, after gaining MAS approval in Singapore, Franklin Templeton is launching Benji under a VCC structure and expanding it globally with enhanced features like multi-coin strategy private funds. Their ongoing focus is educating traditional sectors such as treasury and lending about Benji’s capabilities, bridging the gap between Web3 natives and conventional financial players to unlock the full potential of tokenized funds and digital asset management.