The $1.7 trillion asset manager will absorb the 250 Digital team and all liquid crypto strategies previously managed by CoinFund, targeting pensions and sovereign wealth funds.
Franklin Templeton has agreed to acquire 250 Digital, an active crypto investment management firm spun out of venture firm CoinFund in January, establishing a dedicated division called Franklin Crypto aimed at institutional investors.
The deal, announced Wednesday, includes the full 250 Digital investment team and all liquid cryptocurrency strategies previously run by CoinFund. Franklin Templeton will also invest in those strategies as part of the agreement. The deal terms were not disclosed.
Notably, the transaction will include BENJI tokens — which represent shares in the Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund (FOBXX) — as payment consideration. The company described the move as “an important and innovative step toward conducting M&A transactions using tokenized assets.”
FOBXX, launched on Stellar in 2021was the first U.S.-registered mutual fund to use a public blockchain as its system of record. Franklin Templeton has since expanded the Benji platform across multiple chains, including Ethereum, Arbitrum, Solana, AvalancheandBNB Chain.
Christopher Perkins, a financial industry veteran who previously served as CoinFund’s managing partner and president, will head Franklin Crypto. Seth Ginns, who led liquid investments at CoinFund, will serve as chief investment officer alongside Tony Pecore, a Franklin Templeton digital assets veteran. The trio will report to Sandy Kaul, the firm’s head of innovation.
Franklin Templeton CEO Jenny Johnson called the acquisition “an exciting addition,” according to a press release.
Institutional Crypto Push
The acquisition is the latest move in Franklin Templeton’s deepening commitment to digital assets, which dates back to the formation of its digital assets team in 2018. The division now numbers roughly 50 people and manages approximately $1.8 billion in global assets, according to the press release.
Franklin Crypto will target pensions, sovereign wealth funds, and other institutional investors with active crypto strategies, complementing the firm’s existing product suite. Franklin Templeton was among the first wave of issuers to launch spot Bitcoin and spot Ethereum ETFs in the U.S., later securing approval for the Franklin Crypto Index ETF alongside Hashdex, and filing for Solana and XRP ETFs.
On the tokenization front, the firm recently partnered with Binance to offer tokenized fund shares as off-exchange trading collateral, updated institutional money market funds to support stablecoin reserves and blockchain-based distribution, and partnered with Ondo Finance to tokenize five Franklin Templeton ETFs through Ondo Global Markets.
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