Kraken and Franklin Templeton to Tokenize BENJI Fund

Payward Inc., the parent company of the Kraken exchange, and asset manager Franklin Templeton announced a partnership to integrate the BENJI money market fund as a tokenized collateral asset on Kraken and to co-develop onchain investment products for institutional clients.

Under the agreement, Kraken will add tokenized BENJI as a collateral option on its institutional platform. Traders will be able to place cash into the tokenized money market fund and use those tokens as margin or collateral instead of leaving dollars idle in custody accounts.

Franklin Templeton’s investment team will create actively managed onchain strategies that run on blockchain infrastructure while remaining managed under the Franklin Templeton brand. The collaboration will also use Payward’s xStocks framework to provide rails for tokenized equity access; Payward reports the xStocks system has processed more than $30 billion in trading since its 2025 launch. Initial access will target institutional clients, with retail availability limited to jurisdictions that permit the offers under local securities and banking rules.

Franklin Templeton, which manages over $1 trillion in assets, has expanded its tokenized product offerings in recent years and lists BENJI among its leading tokenized funds. Kraken has extended its product set beyond spot trading to include regulated and professionally managed financial products delivered on blockchain infrastructure. The partnership combines Kraken’s digital infrastructure and custody capabilities with Franklin Templeton’s regulated investment products and portfolio management.

Using a tokenized money market fund as collateral addresses a common operational issue for institutional traders: cash held on exchanges generally earns little or no return. If exchanges accept tokenized money market funds as collateral, institutions can earn yield on parked cash while keeping liquidity available for rapid deployment in trading and lending. Franklin Templeton’s regulated fund structure supplies legal and compliance frameworks that many institutional counterparties require.

The companies said the initial rollout will focus on institutional workflows, custody arrangements and compliance integration on Kraken’s platform. Work under the agreement includes technical integration of BENJI tokens into Kraken’s custody and margin systems and joint development of the onchain investment strategies Franklin Templeton will manage. Retail access and product expansion will depend on regulatory clearance in selected jurisdictions.