Franklin Templeton and Kraken's Parent Company Lock in Tokenized Asset Partnership

Payward, the parent company of exchange Kraken, and Franklin Templeton announced a multi-year strategic partnership at Bermuda's Digital Finance Forum on June 1. The collaboration will bring tokenized money market funds, equities, and actively managed yield products onto blockchain infrastructure, expanding how traditional asset managers can deploy capital in crypto-native rails.

The centerpiece is BENJI, Franklin Templeton's suite of tokenized money market funds, now integrated directly into Kraken. Institutional users can deploy these tokens as collateral, settlement mechanisms, and liquidity sources – essentially using regulated cash-equivalent exposure onchain without leaving the exchange ecosystem. Dave Ripley, Kraken's co-CEO, unveiled the deal during the main keynote. Payward is also co-designing new yield-focused strategies with Franklin Templeton that blend the transparency and automation of blockchain with multi-decade asset management credibility.

Underpinning both moves is xStocks, Payward's framework for tokenizing real-world assets, which has processed over $30 billion in volume since launch in 2025. The volume benchmark matters: it shows institutional conviction is moving past pilot stage into operational scale.

The second moment that defined the conference was execution. Every eligible attendee received one share of Franklin Templeton's Gold ETF – roughly $200 of physical gold-backed exposure – delivered instantly to their Kraken account and settled onchain in seconds. That's not a symbolic gift. It's a working proof that a regulated, multi-billion-dollar asset manager can atomize holdings and distribute them to thousands of retail participants without intermediaries or settlement delays.

Arjun Sethi, Payward's co-CEO, framed it as convergence. "The distinction between traditional assets and digital infrastructure no longer holds," he said. The partnership unlocks product categories that would have been operationally impossible three years ago – assets carrying institutional credibility wrapped in programmable, composable code.

Watch for three execution points. First, BENJI's institutional adoption metrics on Kraken – whether the tokenized money market fund becomes a meaningful collateral source or stays niche. Second, the actual co-designed yield products: their fee structure, underlying strategies, and regulatory approvals will indicate how much Franklin Templeton is willing to commit. Third, xStocks volume trajectory – maintaining $30 billion in annualized throughput or scaling beyond it shows whether asset tokenization is becoming infrastructure or remaining experimental.