Franklin Templeton acquired 250 Digital, a spin-off from venture capital firm CoinFund, earlier this year to create an independent crypto division.
The $1.7 trillion asset manager is making its boldest move yet into digital assets, targeting pension funds and sovereign wealth funds.
What Franklin Templeton is building
This unit will operate under the name Franklin Crypto. Former Coinfund executives Christopher Perkins and Seth Gins will be in charge of day-to-day operations. Sandy Kaul, head of innovation at Franklin, will oversee the group.
Franklin has been involved in cryptocurrencies since 2018 and currently employs over 50 digital asset specialists. The company already offers a Bitcoin ETF and operates a tokenized money market fund on Binance. This acquisition moves the company’s strategy from passive products to actively managed institutional products.
Timing is important here. Bitcoin has fallen about 45% since hitting above $126,000 last fall. Approximately $2 trillion has evaporated from the total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies. Mr. Franklin’s leadership appears to view the economic downturn as an opportunity to consolidate talent and build infrastructure cheaply.
Payment by token
Perhaps the most unusual aspect is the payment structure. Franklin plans to use BENJI tokens, which are backed by a blockchain-based government funding fund, to cover a portion of the purchase price. This makes this one of the first corporate acquisitions to be partially settled on-chain.
The deal is expected to be completed by mid-2026. Financial terms were not disclosed.
