Key Takeaways:
Franklin Templeton launched Franklin Crypto, an investment unit focused on providing institutional grade digital asset strategies.
The division is anchored by the acquisition of 250 Digital, a crypto firm responsible for CoinFund’s liquid strategies recently.
Part of the acquisition was settled using BENJI tokens, one of the first instances of using tokenized assets for M&A payments.
Franklin Templeton, a global investment who is managing more than $1.7 trillion, announced the launch of Franklin Crypto, a unit designed to serve the needs of institutional clients such as pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, and family offices. According to the official release, this will move the firm from offering exposure such as Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs to providing high performance crypto strategies.
Today, we launched Franklin Crypto: a new dedicated, institutional-grade crypto investment management unit.
Industry veterans Chris Perkins and Seth Ginns will co-lead Franklin Crypto alongside @FTI_Global’s Tony Pecore. To expand our existing suite of actively managed crypto… pic.twitter.com/BJ7iqFX0Qp
— Franklin Templeton Digital Assets (@FTDA_US) April 1, 2026
Strategic Leadership and the 250 Digital Acquisition
The launch of Franklin Crypto is supported by the acquisition of 250 Digital, an investment firm that spun out of the venture capital CoinFund. This deal will bring a wealth of expertise to Franklin Templeton digital assets team, which manages about $1.8 billion. The division will be led by industry veterans who bridge the gap between finance and the blockchain.
Role
Leader
Background
Head of Franklin Crypto
Christopher Perkins
Former President of CoinFund and Global Co-Head at Citi.
Chief Investment Officer
Seth Ginns
Former Head of Liquid Investments at CoinFund.
Digital Assets Veteran
Tony Pecore
Representing Franklin Templeton’s core digital asset group.
Head of Innovation
Sandy Kaul
Franklin Crypto will report directly to her innovation wing.
Origin and management team of Franklin Crypto
Moving Beyond ETFs to Active Management
Unlike traditional crypto ETFs that track the price of an asset, Franklin Crypto focuses on active strategies. The unit will offer solutions such as long only, market neutral, and multi strategy funds by combining 250 Digital’s expertise in liquid crypto with Franklin Templeton’s global risk management infrastructure. These products are built to meet institutional standards, which means that they will include the robust compliance, custody, and risk monitoring that banks and hedge funds will require before entering the crypto market.
Franklin Templeton launched Franklin Crypto
The launch of Franklin Crypto shows that the institutional moment for digital assets arrived. Asset managers are no longer satisfied with gatekeepers to Bitcoin, they want to become participants in the ecosystem. It means that crypto is becoming a standard part of a diversified institutional portfolio.
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A Test Case for Tokenized M&A
One of the most unique aspects of this acquisition is how it was paid for. A part of the transaction was settled using BENJI tokens, which represent shares in Franklin Templeton’s on-chain U.S. Government Money Market Fund. This is an example of using tokenized assets for a merger and acquisition (M&A) deal.
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