Franklin Templeton's ambitions in cryptocurrency landed on June 22.

Written by: Nicky, Foresight News

On June 22, Franklin Templeton announced the completion of its acquisition of 250 Digital and the official establishment of its crypto asset management department, Franklin Crypto, focusing on providing actively managed cryptocurrency strategies for institutional investors.

The new department is led by Christopher Perkins as head, with Seth Ginns as Chief Investment Officer. They will jointly manage with Tony Pecore from the Franklin Templeton Digital Assets team and report to Sandy Kaul, head of innovative business. Perkins previously worked at Citigroup for 13 years, and Ginns began his career at Credit Suisse.

This acquisition includes the entire investment team of 250 Digital and its previously CoinFund-operated liquidity crypto strategies, and Franklin Templeton has clearly stated its intention to inject funds into these strategies. By the end of 2025, the digital assets department is expected to manage approximately $1.8 billion, while the company's total assets under management as of the end of May 2026 are approximately $17.8 trillion.

Franklin Templeton began its foray into the cryptocurrency space in 2018, forming a digital assets team of over 50 people engaged in blockchain technology research, investment strategy development, and node validator operations. In 2021, the company launched the Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund (BENJI), the first registered mutual fund in the United States to use a public blockchain to process transactions and record share ownership. According to data from rwa.xyz, BENJI currently has total assets of approximately $831 million, with 1,114 holders and a seven-day annualized yield of 3.5%.

Subsequently, its product line gradually expanded around spot ETFs. In January 2024, a Bitcoin spot ETF (EZBC) was approved for launch, with net assets reaching approximately $368 million as of June 21, 2026. In July of the same year, an Ethereum spot ETF (EZET) was launched, with net assets around $34.62 million at that time.

In 2025, the company further expanded its crypto products. In February, it launched a crypto index ETF (EZPZ), initially focusing on Bitcoin and Ethereum, and in December of the same year expanded to include various crypto assets such as ADA, LINK, DOGE, SOL, XLM, and XRP, with net assets of approximately $12.43 million as of June 21, 2026. In November, an XRP spot ETF (XRPZ) was launched, with net assets about $252 million during the same period, ranking second among the company's crypto ETFs. In December, a Solana spot ETF (SOEZ) that includes staking features went online, with net assets approximately $8.19 million and holding about 112,900 SOL, of which approximately 99.81% has been staked.

Entering 2026, Franklin Templeton continued to launch new products. In June, the company submitted an application to the SEC to launch two ETFs (Bitcoin DRIP ETF) that automatically reinvest stock dividends into Bitcoin, initially configured with 95% U.S. large-cap stocks and 5% Bitcoin, with Bitcoin's maximum proportion not exceeding 20%, expected to be effective as early as September.

Currently, Franklin Templeton's crypto product line covers three levels: tokenized funds represented by BENJI, a passive ETF series consisting of EZBC, EZET, XRPZ, SOEZ, and EZPZ, and actively managed strategies led by Franklin Crypto. Target clients include institutions such as pension funds and sovereign wealth funds.

In addition to cryptocurrency ETFs and actively managed strategies, Franklin Templeton has also expanded a broader crypto ecosystem through investments and partnerships in recent years. In 2025, the company participated in the funding of the decentralized protocol Ethena, which focuses on issuing synthetic US dollar stablecoins (USDe). That same year, Franklin Templeton invested in the crypto API development company Crossmint, which provides enterprises with NFT and wallet infrastructure services. In blockchain collaboration, the company has established connections with Aptos, with its on-chain treasury bond fund BENJI going live on the Aptos network in 2025. Furthermore, public reports suggest that Franklin Templeton also collaborates with the Sui ecosystem.

In contrast, another traditional asset management giant, Fidelity Investments, has taken a different path in the cryptocurrency field. Fidelity began researching Bitcoin and blockchain in 2014 and established Fidelity Digital Assets in 2018, focusing on building its own custodial and trading infrastructure. Its Bitcoin spot ETF (FBTC) had assets exceeding $11 billion by mid-June 2026, far surpassing similar products from Franklin Templeton.

In early 2026, Fidelity also launched an Ethereum-based stablecoin (FIDD), with a circulating supply of approximately 62.6 million. As of the first quarter of 2026, Fidelity's overall assets under management were approximately $7 trillion. Although the paths of the two institutions differ, they both reflect the trend of traditional asset management deepening into the cryptocurrency field.