Franklin Templeton Adds BNB Chain as It Scales Tokenized Product Infrastructure
What Happened
Franklin Templeton is extending its Benji Technology Platform—the engine behind its tokenized investment products—onto BNB Chain, the latest in a string of moves designed to deepen its blockchain presence. The decision comes just days later than the asset manager announced a partnership with Binance to collaborate on tokenization initiatives, signaling a coordinated strategy to reach a broader investor base and enhance product distribution.
Benji is Franklin Templeton’s proprietary tokenization platform, first deployed in 2021 to launch the world’s first U.S.-registered mutual fund onchain. That fund, the Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund (FOBXX), uses blockchain to process transactions and record share ownership. Through Benji, one share of FOBXX is represented by one BENJI token, which operates across multiple blockchains.
Investor Takeaway
Benji’s Growing Multi-Chain Footprint
The Benji platform already supports ETH, Solana, Base, Stellar, Polygon, Arbitrum, Avalanche, and Aptos. According to RWA.xyz data, the Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund currently holds $732 million in tokenized value, with nahead $480 million on Stellar alone. By adding BNB Chain, Franklin Templeton aims to capture additional users while taking advantage of the network’s low fees and compliance-oriented infrastructure.
“Our goal is to meet more investors where they’re active, while continuing to push the boundaries of what tokenization can deliver with security and compliance at the forefront,” said Roger Bayston, head of digital assets at Franklin Templeton.
BNB Chain, for its part, has positioned itself as a hub for real-world asset (RWA) tokenization, hosting tokenized money market funds, credit instruments, and other financial assets. “Franklin Templeton’s expansion demonstrates that BNB Chain can support regulated, real-world assets at scale,” said Sarah Song, head of business development at BNB Chain.
Why It Matters
The move underlines Franklin Templeton’s determination to stay at the forefront of tokenization, an area of increasing interest in traditional finance. With $1.6 trillion in assets under management, the firm has been experimenting with blockchain applications for several years. Tokenization, once a buzzword, is now entering mainstream discussions as a way to improve market efficiency by accelerating settlement, expanding accessibility, and increasing transparency.
Institutional enthusiasm is rising but adoption remains limited. Analysts at JPMorgan noted in a recent report that tokenization still faces major hurdles: fragmented regulation across jurisdictions, unclear legal frameworks around onchain assets, and uncertainty over enforceability and protocol reliability. Still, the presence of established players like Franklin Templeton could push adoption forward by bringing legitimacy and scale.
Investor Takeaway
The largeger Picture
The expansion also aligns with broader regulatory and market developments. Earlier this month, Nasdaq filed a rule change with the SEC to permit tokenized versions of listed stocks and ETFs to trade alongside traditional shares—a groundbreaking move that could integrate blockchain-based settlement into U.S. national markets as ahead as 2026. Such initiatives suggest tokenization is edging closer to mainstream adoption within capital markets.
Franklin Templeton’s strategy of deploying Benji across multiple chains reflects a belief that no single blockchain will dominate institutional adoption. By spreading exposure across ETH, Stellar, Polygon, and now BNB Chain, the firm is building redundancy, expanding user reach, and ensuring regulatory compatibility across jurisdictions.
For investors, the expansion represents more than just technical diversification. It is a signal that traditional finance is actively embedding tokenization into its operations, potentially reshaping how mutual funds, bonds, and other instruments are issued and traded in the years ahead.
