As someone who closely follows the digital asset industry, I believe this move by Franklin Templeton is a significant step forward for the adoption of tokenized real-world assets. The ability to transfer fund shares peer-to-peer makes the BENJI token more interconnected to the broader digital asset economy and puts Franklin Templeton at the forefront of the financial sector in this area.


Franklin Templeton announced on Thursday that it has facilitated direct token transfers between peers for its $380 million tokenized money market fund. This move aims to increase connectivity of the fund to the wider digital asset marketplace, following a trend set by competitors.

As an observer, I’d describe it like this: I see that investors of the Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund (FOBXX) have the freedom to transfer the fund’s BENJI tokens amongst themselves directly, eliminating the need for intermediaries. The BENJI token, which can be found on both the Stellar (XLM) and Polygon (MATIC) blockchains, represents their shares in the fund that owns government securities, cash, and repurchase agreements. In return, these token holders receive a consistent yield from the fund.

From my perspective as an outside observer, when Franklin Templeton enables the transfer of fund shares directly between investors, they will be at the forefront of the financial industry. This sector is rapidly embracing tokenized real-world assets, which are now commonplace and characterized by greater transparency, accessibility, and openness.

The significance of this development lies in its capacity to broaden a token’s potential uses in the long run, enabling possibilities such as trading it on secondary markets or utilizing it as security for loans within the Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ecosystems.

In due time, we aspire for digital assets running on blockchain technology to function effortlessly within the broader digital asset marketplace, according to Roger Bayston, the head of digital assets at Franklin Templeton, as stated in a press announcement.

I’ve noticed an exciting development in the world of finance: U.S. Treasuries are leading the charge to transport traditional bond assets onto the blockchain, a process referred to as tokenization of real-world assets. The market value for tokenized Treasuries has surged to a whopping $1.2 billion as of late, representing a tenfold increase since the beginning of 2023. It seems digital asset investors are eagerly seeking secure returns for their blockchain-held funds.

In 2021, BENJI, the largest and oldest player in the market with a $380 million market capitalization, was launched. However, newcomers such as Ondo Finance’s tokens and BlackRock’s new BUIDL fund with Securitize have gained a substantial foothold, enabling peer-to-peer token transfers. These new entrants are rapidly approaching Franklin Templeton’s market offering.

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2024-04-25 20:22