Franklin Templeton Launches Active Crypto Division After 250 Digital Acquisition

Published by James Harris on June 23, 2026June 23, 2026

Franklin Templeton has closed its acquisition of 250 Digital and launched Franklin Crypto, a dedicated division that will actively manage liquid cryptocurrency strategies for pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, and other large institutional allocators. The deal, first announced in April 2026, brings 250 Digital’s full investment team into the firm and marks a meaningful departure from the passive and tokenization-focused work Franklin Templeton has pursued since 2018.

The distinction matters. Franklin Templeton’s existing digital asset infrastructure was built around tokenized products and passive exposure, including a February arrangement with Binance letting institutional clients use tokenized money market fund shares as collateral, and a March partnership with Ondo Finance placing tokenized ETFs on blockchain networks. Active crypto portfolio management is a different discipline entirely, requiring a team that trades liquid markets rather than wraps traditional instruments in blockchain rails. Christopher Perkins, co-founder of 250 Digital and formerly of CoinFund, will lead the new division, with Seth Ginns continuing as CIO. Franklin Templeton’s tokenized asset base grew from roughly $768 million in June 2025 to more than $2.5 billion a year later, per RWA.xyz data, but that growth came without the active trading capability this acquisition now adds.

The acquisition was settled partly using BENJI tokens, shares of the Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund recorded on a public blockchain, making this one of the first major financial-services deals closed with tokenized fund shares rather than cash or conventional securities alone.

That detail is not incidental. Using on-chain instruments to settle a corporate acquisition is a proof-of-concept for the broader tokenized finance thesis, and Franklin Templeton executing it on its own product gives the approach a credibility that a third-party demonstration would not. The on-chain real-world asset market has grown from $11.8 billion to $32.2 billion over the past year, and the institutions building infrastructure inside that window are positioning for a regulatory environment that appears to be moving toward legitimizing these structures. As asset managers race to establish institutional-grade crypto operations, the gap between firms with active management capabilities and those without is becoming a competitive liability.

Franklin Templeton manages roughly $1.78 trillion across more than 35 countries. CEO Jenny Johnson framed the acquisition as filling a specific gap in the firm’s capabilities. The new Franklin Crypto unit will report to Sandy Kaul, Franklin Templeton’s head of innovation, with Tony Pecore from the firm’s existing digital assets group co-managing alongside the 250 Digital team.