Franklin Templeton extends off-exchange collateral program to Bybit

Franklin Templeton has expanded its off-exchange collateral program to Bybit, according to CoinDesk, giving users on the exchange a way to use tokenized money market fund shares as collateral for crypto trading. Under the arrangement, users can post those shares to borrow stablecoins such as USDT or USDC while the underlying assets continue to generate yield. The shares involved represent about $686 million in net assets. The underlying assets are not moved onto Bybit. Instead, they are held off-exchange by regulated custody platform ByCustody, while their value is mirrored inside Bybit’s trading environment. Franklin Templeton said the structure is designed to unlock trading liquidity without interrupting yield generation. The shares are issued through the firm’s Benji technology platform, its proprietary blockchain-integrated recordkeeping and transfer agent infrastructure, and currently offer a 3.7% annualized yield based on the latest seven-day rate. The Bybit expansion follows Franklin Templeton’s earlier off-exchange collateral arrangements for clients on Binance and OKX. Sandy Kaul, the firm’s head of digital assets and industry advisory services, said investors can now use collateral more efficiently across major exchanges and still earn yield. CoinDesk also noted that the move lines up with a wider industry pattern, with platforms including Crypto.com and Deribit allowing eligible users to post BlackRock’s BUIDL fund as trading collateral.