Franklin Templeton has announced a strategic partnership with MoonPay to develop an on-chain infrastructure that will enable institutional investors to convert their stablecoins directly into tokenized money market funds. This initiative aims to facilitate the continuous exposure of eligible investors to yield-bearing, cash-like assets around the clock.
The collaboration will integrate Franklin Templeton’s Benji Technology Platform with MoonPay Trade, allowing institutional investors to seamlessly move positions on-chain. This includes converting supported stablecoins into Franklin Templeton’s tokenized money market fund and vice versa, all without leaving blockchain networks. By doing so, the partnership seeks to enhance the deployment of institutional capital linked to tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) and tokenized funds.
Franklin Templeton, managing assets totaling $1.74 trillion, has been actively expanding its digital asset business. Recently, the firm announced its plans to launch Franklin Crypto following the acquisition of digital-asset investment firm 250 Digital. Sandy Kaul, the company’s head of innovation and digital assets, emphasized her vision for 2026 as the potential “year of the universal liquidity layer,” where stablecoins, tokenized funds, and digital currencies will interact more fluidly in various financial activities, including trading, lending, and collateral management.
Kaul pinpointed the ability to convert stablecoin balances into tokenized money market funds as a critical use case for institutional investors. Unlike traditional money market funds, which often require investors to maintain their positions through the trading day to earn interest, tokenized funds can provide yield proportional to the actual time that an asset is held. This feature aligns with the 24/7 nature of crypto markets, catering to the evolving demands of institutional clients.
The partnership has already generated significant interest, with strong demand from institutions for the ability to move seamlessly between stablecoins and tokenized money market funds while still maintaining exposure to yield-bearing assets. Additionally, this collaboration dovetails with MoonPay’s ambitions to extend its services beyond crypto trading and payments, broadening its scope into the realm of tokenized RWAs.
Overall, the partnership signals a transformative shift in how institutional capital may be allocated and managed in the burgeoning landscape of digital assets. Stakeholders anticipate a broader impact as the integration paves the way for innovative financial solutions.
