Franklin Templeton and Payward Partner to Expand Tokenized Assets for Institutions

Highlights:

• Payward and Franklin Templeton partnered to bring traditional financial products onchain for wider market use.
• The collaboration will explore tokenized equities, custody, institutional liquidity, and actively managed yield products.
• Kraken also plans to integrate Franklin Templeton’s BENJI funds for institutional digital market use.

Payward, the parent company of Kraken, has announced a strategic collaboration with Franklin Templeton to expand tokenized assets and institutional digital finance. The companies announced the partnership on Tuesday. The goal is to bring more traditional financial products onchain and make them easier to use across digital asset markets.

The collaboration brings together two different strengths. Payward offers crypto trading, custody, and onchain infrastructure through its wider business, including Kraken. Franklin Templeton brings global asset management experience and deep work in tokenized investments. Together, the companies plan to build products that connect traditional finance with blockchain-based markets in a more practical way.

Tokenization is the main focus of the partnership. Tokenization means turning a real financial product, such as an investment fund or security, into a digital asset that can move on a blockchain. For institutions, it can make assets easier to trade, manage, and use in digital markets.

BREAKING: Kraken parent Payward and Franklin Templeton to expand tokenized assets and institutional digital finance.

The collaboration includes tokenized yield products, BENJI integration, and onchain investment strategies via Kraken’s xStocks framework. pic.twitter.com/lKopFVxFDZ

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Payward and Franklin Templeton Focus on Tokenized Yield Products

A key part of the collaboration will involve Payward’s xStocks framework. According to the announcement, xStocks has processed more than $30 billion in volume since its launch in the previous year. Payward and Franklin Templeton will use this framework to explore new actively managed investments onchain.

The companies also plan to work on tokenized yield-focused products. These products are expected to be available to institutional clients and, where allowed, Kraken’s wider user base. Yield-focused products usually aim to generate returns for investors through managed investment strategies.

The planned products will be designed to offer professional management, transparency, flexibility, and programmability. Programmability means the product can work with digital systems and blockchain tools more easily than many traditional financial products.

Arjun Sethi, Co-CEO of Payward and Kraken, said the companies are building toward a model where the line between traditional assets and digital infrastructure becomes less clear. He added that this kind of collaboration can create products that were not possible a few years ago.

Kraken Plans to Integrate BENJI for Institutional Use

The partnership also includes plans to integrate BENJI, Franklin Templeton’s suite of global tokenized money market funds, across Kraken. The companies said BENJI could support different institutional use cases and help improve utility and capital efficiency in digital markets.

Capital efficiency means institutions can use their funds more effectively across trading, custody, and investment activities. For large investors, this can be important because they often need fast access to assets while also managing risk and liquidity.

Sandy Kaul, Head of Digital Assets & Innovation at Franklin Templeton, said the focus should be on making onchain assets more useful for different market participants. She said the work with Payward reflects the rising need to serve both digital-native users and institutional clients as more capital moves onchain.

Franklin Templeton has been active in digital asset investing and blockchain innovation since 2018. The company said it combines tokenomics research, data science, and technical expertise in its digital asset work. Franklin Templeton also reported $1.74 trillion in assets under management as of April 30.

Payward said it serves clients in more than 190 countries and territories through its product family, including Kraken, NinjaTrader, and Payward Services. The company offers crypto trading, derivatives, tokenized equities, staking, custody, and business-to-business financial infrastructure.

The announcement also noted that tokenized products involve risks. Product availability may vary by jurisdiction, and investors are advised to do their own research and consult legal, tax, and financial advisers before investing in tokenized assets.