On May 12, 2026, Payward Inc., the parent company of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, and global asset management giant Franklin Templeton announced a strategic partnership to develop tokenized investment products and expand onchain financial infrastructure for both institutional and retail clients. This collaboration marks a significant milestone in the convergence of traditional finance and crypto-native ecosystems.
Partnership Overview and Core Framework
Franklin Templeton manages approximately $1.74 trillion in assets under management. Payward's xStocks framework, launched in 2025, has processed over $30 billion in tokenized equity trading volume. The core of the deal involves building actively managed investment products directly on blockchain networks, enabling professional strategies from a major traditional asset manager to become programmable and tradable onchain.
The two companies will jointly design tokenized fixed-income products initially targeting institutional clients and, where regulations permit, Kraken's broader user base. These products emphasize transparency, programmability, and flexibility.
BENJI Token Integration and Executive Insights
Kraken will integrate Franklin Templeton's BENJI token suite into its institutional platform. BENJI tokens represent shares in the Franklin Onchain U.S. Government Money Fund and related products, capable of being used as collateral or generating yields in digital markets.
Arjun Sethi, co-CEO of Payward and Kraken, stated: "Partnerships like this unlock a new class of products that would have been impossible just three years ago: assets carrying the trust of managers with decades of legacy, and the programmability of digital infrastructure."
Sandy Kaul, Head of Digital Assets and Innovation at Franklin Templeton, commented: "By expanding the utility of BENJI and exploring new tokenized products, our work with Payward reflects the growing need to serve both digitally native and institutional clients with solutions built for how capital increasingly moves onchain."
Franklin Templeton's Blockchain Journey
Franklin Templeton has been exploring blockchain integration since 2018. In April 2021, it launched FOBXX, the first U.S.-registered mutual fund to record share ownership on a public blockchain. The fund now operates across Stellar, Solana, Base, Polygon, Aptos, Arbitrum, Avalanche, and other networks.
In March 2026, Franklin Templeton partnered with Ondo Finance to tokenize five of its ETFs for onchain distribution and 24/7 trading via crypto wallets. The following month, the firm established its Franklin Crypto unit through the acquisition of 250 Digital, a CoinFund spin-off, with part of the transaction settled using BENJI tokens.
xStocks Framework and Industry Trends
Payward's xStocks framework offers 1:1 tokenized representations of U.S. stocks and ETFs for qualified non-U.S. clients, enabling extended trading hours and DeFi composability, including lending and trading on decentralized exchanges. Earlier in 2026, the company also announced a partnership with Nasdaq to develop specialized token designs for stocks supporting automated corporate actions, proxy voting, and dividend payments.
This collaboration highlights the broader industry push toward real-world asset tokenization. Traditional assets gain blockchain-native benefits, including 24/7 accessibility and composability with DeFi protocols, while onchain infrastructure gains access to regulated, institution-quality products.
Risks and Regulatory Considerations
Risks cited in the announcement include regulatory uncertainty, blockchain security vulnerabilities, pricing and settlement accuracy, and operational conditions. Tokenized products are issued and distributed by Payward; Franklin Templeton manages the underlying strategies but does not issue or endorse tokenization platforms. Availability varies by jurisdiction. Both companies participate in DTCC's tokenization working groups, positioning them as leading integrators of traditional finance and crypto-native infrastructure as institutional demand for onchain products accelerates.