In a significant move to enhance the accessibility and functionality of tokenized financial products, Franklin Templeton and MoonPay have entered into a strategic partnership. This collaboration integrates Franklin Templeton’s Benji Technology Platform with MoonPay Trade’s robust institutional trading infrastructure, allowing eligible institutional users to seamlessly transition between supported stablecoins and Franklin Templeton’s tokenized money market funds on an entirely onchain execution basis.
The addition of the Benji platform to MoonPay Trade marks a notable expansion for MoonPay, which has predominantly focused on crypto, fiat, and stablecoin trading. This integration introduces a new use case at the convergence of stablecoins, tokenized funds, and capital markets that operate onchain.
The partnership is designed to utilize MoonPay Trade’s existing features, which include quoting, routing, execution, and networking capabilities. With these enhancements, Franklin Templeton’s tokenized money market fund suite becomes more user-friendly for institutional clients navigating onchain workflows. For current holders of tokenized funds, this integration creates additional avenues for liquidity in stablecoins, thereby offering increased flexibility in managing onchain treasury, liquidity, portfolio rebalancing, and collateral-related scenarios.
Sandy Kaul, Head of Innovation and Digital Assets at Franklin Templeton, emphasized the importance of adaptability and speed in the digital asset landscape. “Tokenized money market funds only become more useful when they can move with the speed and programmability of the broader digital asset ecosystem,” she noted. Kaul highlighted that collaborating with MoonPay represents a substantial opportunity for institutions to transition fluidly between stablecoin liquidity and exposure to tokenized funds.
This partnership underscores Franklin Templeton’s ongoing commitment to creating regulated, blockchain-enabled investment solutions and extending their utility in institutional contexts. It also serves as a pivotal moment for MoonPay Trade as it shifts focus towards tokenized finance and the infrastructure for real-world assets.
Caroline D. Pham, CEO of MoonPay Institutional, echoed the sentiment that tokenized money market funds hold the potential for enhanced liquidity and capital efficiency, contingent upon institutions’ access to the onchain financial ecosystem. She stated that the collaboration with Franklin Templeton represents a pivotal innovation to foster the institutional adoption of digital assets.
Looking forward, this partnership lays the groundwork for an expansive strategic relationship between Franklin Templeton and MoonPay, centered on enhancing trusted access to onchain financial markets.
Franklin Templeton has been a trailblazer in digital asset investing and blockchain innovation. Since launching its Benji Technology Platform, the firm has introduced several pioneering tokenized investment products. These include the world’s first U.S.-registered mutual fund utilizing blockchain for transaction processing, the first fully tokenized UCITS fund in Luxembourg, and the first retail tokenized fund in Singapore. Moreover, it recently announced an innovative M&A transaction involving BENJI tokens.
MoonPay, established in 2019, is recognized for helping both businesses and consumers facilitate value transfer across fiat and digital assets, serving over 30 million customers in 180 countries. The company supports numerous enterprise clients across the crypto and fintech sectors, providing an all-encompassing solution that integrates traditional payment systems with blockchain technology.
As the digital asset space continues to evolve, this partnership could signify a key step towards broader acceptance and integration of tokenized financial products in institutional portfolios, highlighting the potential for innovation and diversification in the financial landscape.
