Franklin Templeton, managing over $1.6 trillion in assets, has aggressively pushed tokenization and RWA adoption. In an exclusive interview, Senior Vice President Chetan Karkhanis shared insights on Web3 education, the dot-com bubble comparison, and the $20 democratization experiment.
Education as Wall Street's Gateway
Asked about crypto market volatility, Chetan stressed that traditional finance needs not a "cure" but education and awareness. Franklin launched "Change the Soch" in India, originally for female investors but fully applicable to Web3. He believes RWA and tokenization are still early; Wall Street incumbents must shift their mindset through education before joining the ecosystem.
Tokenization Hype vs. Dot-Com Bubble
Chetan, who started his career during the TMT bubble, sees parallels and differences. Similarities include excessive hype and volatility. However, in 2000, many companies had zero revenue yet astronomical valuations—markets over-discounted future capabilities. Today, blockchain thesis is solid; price corrections are just price discovery. As institutions may turn risk-off, a healthy realism will return, guiding them toward blockchain's true utility.
$20 Threshold: A Democratization Bet
Franklin partnered with DBS to slash the entry for its tokenized money market fund to $20. While KYC costs exceed profit per user, Chetan views it as a demonstration of blockchain's democratizing power. He believes AI and tech will drastically cut compliance costs; barriers should not prevent mass participation. This is not a short-term balance sheet play but a move to set the next-gen financial infrastructure standard.
Benji Platform's Multi-Chain Expansion
Chetan champions Franklin's proprietary tokenization platform Benji, now live on Stellar, Polygon, Arbitrum, Avalanche, Ethereum, Aptos, Base, Solana, BNB Chain, and the institutional private chain Canton. In February, Binance partnered with Franklin for an institutional OTC collateral program, letting qualified clients use Benji-issued tokenized money market shares as collateral while assets sit in regulated custody (e.g., Ceffu), reducing counterparty risk.
When asked whether he'd like to be remembered for Benji or for transforming Franklin's culture, Chetan said the two are not mutually exclusive. Success, to him, means raising significant assets, promoting Benji and tokenization, and simultaneously showcasing Franklin as an innovative, tech-forward organization beyond being a traditional asset manager.