Payward Inc., the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, and Franklin Templeton announced a strategic partnership on Tuesday, May 12, 2026, to develop tokenized investment products and expand onchain financial infrastructure for both institutional and retail clients. The collaboration brings together Franklin Templeton's approximately $1.74 trillion in assets under management with Payward's xStocks framework for tokenized equities, which has processed over $30 billion in trading volume since its launch in 2025.
Core of the Partnership: Tokenized Actively Managed Funds
The companies plan to build actively managed investment products directly on blockchain networks, making professionally managed strategies from a traditional asset manager programmable and tradable onchain. The initial focus will be on tokenized fixed-income products, targeting institutional clients first and, where regulations permit, Kraken's broader user base. The products are designed to emphasize transparency, programmability, and flexibility.
BENJI Token Integration and Institutional Applications
Kraken will integrate Franklin Templeton's BENJI token suite for institutional use. BENJI tokens represent shares in the Franklin Onchain U.S. Government Money Fund and related products, and can be used as collateral or to generate yield in digital markets.
Arjun Sethi, co-CEO of Payward and Kraken, noted that the collaboration reflects a fundamental shift in how financial products are structured. "What collaborations like this unlock is a new class of products that would not have been possible just three years ago: assets that carry the credibility of managers with decades of history, and the programmability of digital infrastructure," said Sethi. Sandy Kaul, Head of Digital Assets and Innovation at Franklin Templeton, stated that the focus is on making onchain assets functional for the full spectrum of market participants. "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," Kaul explained.
Franklin Templeton's Blockchain Journey
Franklin Templeton has been working on blockchain integration since 2018 and launched FOBXX, the first U.S.-registered mutual fund to record share ownership on a public blockchain, in April 2021. 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 launched its Franklin Crypto unit through the acquisition of 250 Digital, a CoinFund spinout, where part of the transaction was settled with BENJI tokens.
Payward's xStocks Framework and Industry Positioning
Payward's xStocks framework offers tokenized 1:1 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, Payward also announced a partnership with Nasdaq to develop specialized token designs for stocks that support automated corporate actions, proxy voting, and dividend payments.
The partnership highlights a broader industry push toward real-world asset (RWA) tokenization. Traditional assets gain blockchain-native benefits, including 24/7 accessibility and composability with decentralized finance protocols, while onchain infrastructure gains access to regulated, institutional-quality products. 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 underlying strategies but does not issue or endorse tokenization platforms. The announcement noted that availability varies by jurisdiction. Both companies participate in DTCC's tokenization working groups, and the partnership positions them as leading integrators of traditional finance and crypto-native infrastructure as institutional demand for onchain products accelerates.
Broader Context: Payward's Acquisition of Reap Technologies
In a related development, Payward Inc. also announced on Thursday the acquisition of Hong Kong-based Reap Technologies for $600 million, aimed at building stablecoin payment infrastructure. While separate from the Franklin Templeton partnership, the acquisition underscores Payward's strategy to expand into broader financial services, leveraging blockchain and stablecoin technology.