- Franklin Templeton CEO Jennifer Johnson says the $1.5 trillion firm is proud to have been the first to launch a fully on-chain fund on a public blockchain—the Stellar network.
- She believes that the spot Bitcoin ETFs have a massive market to exploit in asset managers who would like to tap into crypto but are put off by the security and custody risks.
When it launched nearly eight decades ago, Franklin Templeton focused on conservative investments like mutual funds. Today, it is pushing the boundaries by pioneering novel investments and technologies, including blockchain. The company was the first on Wall Street to issue a fully on-chain fund, and as CEO Jenny Johnson recently revealed, the financial giant is committed to blockchain and digital assets.
In a recent interview with CNBC, Jenny talked about the Stellar-based fund, its investment in Bitcoin, the launch of the BTC spot ETF and more. She stated:
We launched a tokenized money market fund; we were the first traditional asset manager to launch a fully active fund on a public blockchain, on the Stellar blockchain.
Jenny Johnson, President & CEO of Franklin Templeton (@FTI_US), dives into @FTI_DA’s tokenized money market fund using the Stellar network and highlights blockchain’s potential for real-world impact.
Watch it via @CNBC 👇 https://t.co/J9uKyMyltg
— Stellar (@StellarOrg) January 19, 2024
Franklin Templeton launched the on-chain fund in mid-2021 as the first to record share ownership and use a public blockchain to process transactions transparently. This was before blockchain ‘was cool’ on Wall Street. As of April last year, the company announced that the fund had hit $270 million in assets under management.
The fund invests 99.5% of its money in cash, government securities and repurchase agreements that it collaterizes fully with cash or government securities. Investors purchase the BENJI token on the company’s app, representing one share of the Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund.
The company, which has over $1.5 trillion in assets under its management, believes blockchain “has the potential to reshape the investment management industry by providing greater transparency and lower operational costs for traditional financial products.”
As Stellar Development Foundation CEO Denelle Dixon pointed out, “Stellar is evolving traditional financial products and processes, making markets more accessible, and empowering more people.”
Betting on Bitcoin: Franklin Templeton Launches Spot ETF
While BlackRock was the Wall Street giant that grabbed the most headlines with its spot BTC ETF launch, other traditional financial giants jumped in as well, and Franklin Templeton was among them. Jenny says the company launched its ETF after observing “escalating demand” for the top crypto.
Bitcoin will open up a new era of blockchain payments on the blockchain, believes the investment titan. However, BTC still suffers from high transaction fees, which has limited its use in payments. On the flip side, it has opened up a massive opportunity for other networks like Stellar, Ripple’s XRPL, Solana and more, whose fees are in the fractions of a penny, to dominate blockchain payments.
According to the Franklin Templeton CEO, the underlying technology “is going to open up a lot of really interesting types of investment opportunities.”
