Kraken parent Payward partnered with Franklin Templeton to expand tokenized equities and on-chain yield products.
Crypto News
Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, and global asset manager Franklin Templeton announced on May 12 a partnership to bring traditional financial products onto blockchain networks. The deal covers #tokenized equities, qualified custody, actively managed yield products, and institutional crypto liquidity through Kraken's over-the-counter and prime services.
A core element of the agreement is the planned integration of BENJI, Franklin Templeton's suite of tokenized money market funds, into Kraken's platform. Institutional clients would be able to use the funds as collateral or for cash management, replacing conventional treasury tools with on-chain alternatives. The firms plan to make certain products available to institutional investors and, where regulations permit, to retail Kraken users as well.
Payward and Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi said the partnership points toward a financial model where the boundary between traditional assets and digital infrastructure no longer holds. "What collaborations like this one unlock is a new class of products that wouldn't have been possible even three years ago," Sethi said.
xStocks and BENJI To Anchor On-Chain Product Push
Payward's xStocks framework will anchor the product development side of the collaboration. The feature has processed more than $30 billion in trading volume since launching last year and will be used to build new actively managed on-chain investments developed with Franklin Templeton.
Sandy Kaul, head of digital assets and innovation at Franklin Templeton, said the focus is on making on-chain assets more functional for a wider range of market participants. "By expanding the utility of BENJI and exploring new tokenized products, our work with Payward reflects the growing need to serve both digital-native and #institutional customers," she said.
Franklin Templeton has also recently launched a dedicated cryptocurrency division called Franklin Crypto, built around its planned acquisition of crypto investment firm 250 Digital. The firm issues crypto-based exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tracking assets including Bitcoin (BTC) and XRP (XRP), and is separately working with Ondo Finance on tokenized product development.
Payward has applied for a national trust company charter with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. That application, if approved, would give the firm expanded access to the US financial system and position it closer to the regulatory framework that governs traditional #institutionalfinance.
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