Franklin Templeton and Kraken parent Payward are joining forces to develop tokenized investment products that could expand institutional access to blockchain based finance.
Key Takeaways
- Franklin Templeton and Payward, the parent company of Kraken, announced a strategic partnership focused on tokenized financial products.
- The collaboration will include tokenized yield products, tokenized equities, custody services, and blockchain based investment tools.
- Kraken plans to integrate BENJI, Franklin Templeton’s tokenized money market funds, into its trading platform for institutional clients.
- The partnership highlights the growing push from traditional financial firms into the rapidly expanding tokenization market.
What Happened?
Payward, the parent company behind crypto exchange Kraken, has partnered with global asset manager Franklin Templeton to develop a new suite of blockchain based investment products aimed at institutional and eligible retail investors.
The companies said the collaboration will focus on tokenized yield products, tokenized equities, crypto custody services, and onchain investment strategies powered by Kraken’s digital asset infrastructure and Franklin Templeton’s asset management expertise.
🔥 UPDATE: Kraken and Franklin Templeton are partnering to build tokenized investment products on-chain. pic.twitter.com/K6oID1ST7f
— Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) May 12, 2026
Franklin Templeton and Payward Deepen Push Into Tokenized Finance
The partnership marks another major step in the ongoing convergence between traditional finance and blockchain-based markets. As financial institutions increasingly explore tokenization, firms are racing to bring traditional assets such as stocks, bonds, and money market funds onto blockchain networks.
According to the announcement, Payward’s xStocks platform, which the company says has processed more than $30 billion in trading volume since launching in 2025, will play a central role in the collaboration. The framework will support actively managed onchain investment products developed together with Franklin Templeton.
These products are expected to target institutional investors first, though some offerings may also become available to eligible retail Kraken users in certain jurisdictions.
Arjun Sethi, Co CEO of Payward and Kraken, said the partnership reflects a broader transformation happening across global finance.
Sethi stated:
BENJI Funds to Be Integrated Into Kraken Platform
As part of the collaboration, Kraken plans to integrate Franklin Templeton’s BENJI tokenized money market funds into its platform.
The BENJI funds could be used by institutional clients as collateral or cash management tools, offering blockchain based alternatives to traditional treasury operations. Analysts have increasingly pointed to tokenized Treasury and money market products as one of the fastest growing areas in digital assets because they combine government backed yields with the operational flexibility of blockchain networks.
In practice, tokenized funds can allow institutions to move collateral around the clock instead of waiting for traditional banking hours or multi day settlement periods.
Sandy Kaul, Head of Digital Assets and Innovation at Franklin Templeton, said the focus should now shift toward making onchain assets more useful for a broader range of market participants.
Kaul stated:
Traditional Finance Continues Blockchain Expansion
The Payward and Franklin Templeton partnership comes as major financial firms continue expanding into tokenized finance and blockchain infrastructure.
Over the past two years, firms such as BlackRock, Fidelity Investments, and JPMorgan Chase have all increased their involvement in blockchain based financial products, particularly tokenized Treasury and money market offerings.
Franklin Templeton has also accelerated its crypto strategy recently through the launch of its dedicated digital asset division, Franklin Crypto, alongside its planned acquisition of crypto investment firm 250 Digital.
The latest partnership suggests that tokenized finance is continuing to gain traction among both crypto native firms and traditional asset managers looking to modernize financial infrastructure.
CoinLaw’s Takeaway
In my experience, partnerships like this show that tokenization is moving beyond experimentation and becoming part of mainstream financial infrastructure. I found the integration of traditional asset management firms with crypto trading platforms especially important because it signals growing confidence from institutional players.
What stands out most here is that firms are no longer talking only about blockchain efficiency. They are now building products designed for real institutional use cases like collateral management, liquidity access, and yield generation. That shift could play a major role in how financial markets operate over the next few years.
