Kraken Parent Teams With Franklin Templeton to Bring Managed Funds Onchain
Payward Joins Franklin Templeton to Expand Real-World Asset Tokenization The partnership pairs Franklin Templeton‘s roughly $1.74 trillion in assets under management with Payward’s xStocks tokenized equities framework, which has processed more than $30 billion in since its 2025 launch. At the center of the deal is a plan to build actively managed investment products directly on networks, allowing professionally managed strategies from a major traditional asset manager to become programmable and tradeable onchain. The two companies will also co-design tokenized yield products aimed first at institutional clients and, where regulations permit, Krakens broader user base. The products are designed to emphasize transparency, programmability, and flexibility. Kraken will integrate Franklin Templetons BENJI token suite into its platform for institutional use. BENJI tokens represent shares in the Franklin Onchain U.S. Government Money Fund and related vehicles and can be used as collateral or to generate yield in digital markets. Arjun Sethi, co-CEO of Payward and Kraken, remarked that the collaboration reflects a fundamental shift in how financial products are structured. “What collaborations like this one unlock is a new class of products that wouldnt have been possible even three years ago: assets that carry the credibility of multi-decade managers and the programmability of digital infrastructure,” Sethi said. Sandy









