Franklin Templeton Expands Blockchain Offering to Avalanche Network

• Franklin Templeton has extended its blockchain-based money market fund to the Avalanche network. 

• The Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund is now accessible through digital wallets on the Benji platform. 

Franklin Templeton, a leading asset management company, has expanded its blockchain offerings by offering its innovative on-chain money market fund on the Avalanche network. This strategic move increases the accessibility of the Franklin OnChain U. S. Government Money Fund (FOBXX), the first U.S. registered mutual fund that uses public blockchain technology to process trades and maintain ownership of shares. 

The Franklin OnChain U. S. Government Money Fund, launched in 2021, is the only U. S. mutual fund that uses the public blockchain to process transactions and record share ownership. This type of investor can get exposure to the Fund through digital wallets on the Benji Investments platform, which is Franklin Templeton’s blockchain-linked record-keeping system. With this expansion, eligible institutional investors can now hold these digital wallets on the Avalanche network.

John Wu, President of Ava Labs, expressed enthusiasm about the collaboration, stating, “Avalanche’s platform is well-aligned with Franklin Templeton’s vision for digital financial innovation, which aims to meet current on-chain investor demand and integrate off-chain capital into the ecosystem.”

Embracing Blockchain for Financial Innovation

Blockchain, smart contracts, and tokenization are being adapted by institutions in order to improve the financial services sector. Avalanche has gained popularity because of EVM compatibility, fast and final transaction times, low fees, and flexibility. These features have drawn both the buy-side and sell-side institutions that aim at developing their digital asset management plans. 

Franklin Templeton Digital Assets has been at the forefront of blockchain technology since 2018, providing solutions, operating node validators, and coming up with various investment strategies. The company’s digital assets research team consists of ‘tokenomics’ specialists who are backed up by data scientists and industry insiders, which helps the firm in the creation of new products and investments. 

Each BENJI token is equivalent to one share of the $420 million Franklin OnChain U. S. Government Money Fund. Franklin Templeton has also announced improved functionality of this fund as opposed to other products in the financial market. Benji wallet holders are now able to swipe their USDC stablecoin to invest in shares of FOBXX and transfer these shares P2P on the public ledger. Future plans may include trading on the secondary market and enhanced collateral mobility within the fund. 

Avalanche’s Growing Ecosystem

The integration of Avalanche with FOBXX happens as the network had its TVL doubled since Q3 2023 from the previous bear market low. However, in 2024, the TVL of Avalanche has not changed much and is almost $1.12 billion as of now, which means that it decreased by 7.44% for the year. The price of Avalanche’s native token, AVAX, has declined in the last 24-hours by 8%, trading at $24.

Franklin Templeton’s move to extend FOBXX to Avalanche shows that the fund aims to deploy the asset across various blockchain networks to attract more investors. By offering the fund on Avalanche, Franklin Templeton is enhancing access to its tokenized treasuries fund.