Franklin Templeton acquires 250 Digital as crypto and tokenization push accelerates
Franklin Templeton has finalized its purchase of crypto asset manager 250 Digital, deepening its bet on digital assets and formally launching a new unit branded Franklin Crypto. The move folds 250 Digital’s strategies into a $1.78 trillion global asset management platform and underscores how aggressively large, traditional firms are now competing for institutional crypto flows.
Under the deal, Franklin Crypto will house the investment team and strategies previously managed at 250 Digital, integrating them with Franklin Templeton’s existing digital asset infrastructure. The combined division is designed to serve institutions that want professionally managed exposure to cryptocurrencies and tokenized assets, rather than navigating the market directly.
Leadership of the new unit will be shared. Former 250 Digital executives Christopher Perkins and Seth Ginns are joining forces with Franklin Templeton digital assets executive Tony Pecore to steer the business. The firms did not reveal financial details of the transaction.
The acquisition closes a process that began in April, following a broader restructuring earlier in the year. Before the sale, CoinFund had separated out its liquid strategies operation and rebranded it as 250 Digital, allowing CoinFund to focus more tightly on venture investments while 250 Digital built out liquid crypto capabilities that now sit inside Franklin Templeton.
For institutional clients, the most immediate impact is a wider menu of actively managed crypto strategies. Franklin Templeton says investors will be able to access these products through its global distribution network, combining the specialist expertise of the former 250 Digital team with the scale, compliance, and client coverage of a large, established asset manager.
The 250 Digital deal is only one part of a broader digital asset build‑out at Franklin Templeton. Across the firm, new products and partnerships are being rolled out that link traditional finance with blockchain‑based infrastructure, particularly in the fast‑growing area of asset tokenization.
Earlier this month, Franklin Templeton connected its BENJI tokenized money market fund to MoonPay Trade. That integration allows institutional investors to swap stablecoins such as USDC and USDT for BENJI using MoonPay’s on‑chain trading rails. In practice, this gives treasury teams and trading desks a way to move between stablecoins and tokenized cash‑equivalent instruments without leaving the blockchain environment.
Soon after, the firm submitted regulatory filings to introduce two exchange‑traded funds designed to automatically channel stock dividend income into Bitcoin‑linked investments. If approved, these vehicles would let equity investors gradually convert dividend flows into crypto exposure without manual reallocation, effectively turning traditional portfolios into a steady Bitcoin accumulation engine.
These product launches build on a series of initiatives unveiled earlier in the year. In February, Franklin Templeton announced a collaboration with Binance that enables institutions to pledge tokenized money market fund shares as collateral for crypto trading. The structure is intended to keep the underlying assets in regulated custody while still unlocking their collateral value on trading platforms, addressing a key concern for risk‑conscious institutions.
Shortly afterward, the firm partnered with Ondo Finance to extend tokenized exchange‑traded funds onto public blockchains. This arrangement allows certain ETF exposures to be accessed in token form, broadening their reach beyond conventional brokerage accounts and integrating them more deeply into on‑chain financial applications.
As Franklin Templeton expands on the investment side, its tokenization business is growing in parallel. Data from RWA.xyz indicates that the firm’s tokenized asset base has surged from roughly 768 million dollars in June 2025 to more than 2.5 billion dollars today. That tripling of assets over a year reflects both rising client demand and the firm’s willingness to bring more traditional instruments on‑chain.
The broader real‑world asset segment is showing similar strength. Industry‑wide figures from RWA.xyz suggest that the total value of tokenized real‑world assets on blockchain networks has climbed from about 11.8 billion dollars a year ago to 32.2 billion dollars now. This rapid growth signals that tokenization is shifting from an experimental concept to a mainstream capital‑markets trend.
Franklin Templeton’s existing digital assets division remains central to its strategy. Beyond packaging products, the team focuses on fundamental research, portfolio design, and risk frameworks tailored to digital assets. That includes assessing liquidity, counterparty, custody, and smart contract risks that do not fit neatly into traditional models, and building processes that meet institutional governance standards.
Operating across more than 35 countries, the firm argues that integrating 250 Digital enhances its ability to support institutional investors exploring or expanding crypto allocations. With the acquisition, Franklin Templeton can offer a wider spectrum of solutions: from tokenized cash and bond vehicles to actively managed crypto portfolios, and potentially ETFs that link conventional securities with digital assets.
For institutions, this convergence is significant. Many large investors have been reluctant to move into crypto due to operational complexity, regulatory uncertainty, and fragmented market infrastructure. When a global, regulated asset manager incorporates crypto strategies, tokenized products, and on‑chain collateral frameworks under one umbrella, it can lower practical barriers to entry and make digital assets look more like a standard asset class.
The creation of Franklin Crypto also illustrates a shift in how digital asset expertise is being sourced. Rather than building entirely in‑house from scratch, legacy firms are increasingly acquiring or partnering with specialist managers that have already navigated multiple market cycles. Folding 250 Digital’s team into a global platform equips Franklin Templeton with both domain knowledge and an existing track record, while giving that team access to a larger client base and resources.
From a market perspective, the emphasis on actively managed strategies is notable. Early institutional crypto products often focused on simple beta exposure to leading assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum. By contrast, an active approach allows for tactical allocation across a broader universe of tokens, participation in new sectors such as layer‑2 networks and decentralized finance, and dynamic risk control during volatile periods. That model aligns more closely with how institutions typically approach emerging asset classes.
Tokenization is another core part of the story. By putting traditional assets-such as money market funds or ETFs-on blockchain rails, Franklin Templeton is effectively connecting familiar financial products to a new settlement and distribution infrastructure. For investors, this can offer 24/7 transferability, programmable cash flows, and the potential to integrate holdings seamlessly with on‑chain lending, trading, and collateral systems.
These developments come at a time when regulatory and political debates around crypto are intensifying. Proposals like market structure bills and acts aimed at clarifying digital asset treatment are reshaping expectations for how crypto fits into the broader financial system. Large asset managers positioning themselves now are effectively betting that clearer rules will unlock fresh institutional demand rather than shutting it down.
At the same time, the industry is watching how capital rotates within the crypto ecosystem itself. Flows between Bitcoin and alternative assets such as XRP, the performance of sector‑specific tokens like those tied to AI infrastructure, and the evolution of staking and yield strategies are all influencing where institutional managers see opportunity. Franklin Templeton’s push into both pure crypto exposure and tokenized traditional assets reflects a view that the boundary between “crypto” and “finance” will keep blurring.
For corporate treasurers and asset allocators, products that automatically convert dividends into Bitcoin or allow tokenized fund shares to serve as collateral may serve as transitional tools. They provide incremental exposure and operational familiarity without requiring a wholesale rewrite of investment policy statements in one step. That staged approach can be more palatable to boards and risk committees.
Franklin Templeton’s move also signals increasing competition among large managers. As more firms enter the tokenization and digital asset space, differentiation will likely come from breadth of product lineup, depth of risk management, regulatory relationships, and the ability to integrate on‑chain infrastructure with existing custody and reporting tools. Acquisitions like 250 Digital are one way to accelerate that process.
Ultimately, the acquisition, the launch of Franklin Crypto, and the surge in tokenized assets all point toward a single direction: digital assets are becoming a structural, rather than cyclical, focus for major financial institutions. Whether through on‑chain money market funds, tokenized ETFs, or actively managed crypto portfolios, Franklin Templeton is positioning itself to capture demand from clients who want to participate in this shift without abandoning the protections and processes of traditional finance.