In her recent op-ed published by Fortune, Jenny Johnson, chief executive officer at financial giant Franklin Templeton, argues that the financial industry can no longer afford crypto and blockchain, arguing that they represent the future of finance.
Johnson has warned that legacy firms that are reluctant to embrace this disruptive technology could end up getting “wiped out” like American video rental shop Blockbuster.
This inevitable disruption is expected to take place within the next five years, according to the Franklin Templeton boss.
She believes that legacy financial systems are too slow and geographically siloed to remain relevant.
Johnson is convinced that crypto and blockchain can offer significant advantages to investors since they are way more efficient. They offer 24/7 trading, seamless asset tracking, flexible tokenization, and so on.
The 61-year-old executive has noted that such blockchain networks as Solana and Sui can rival Visa in terms of transaction throughput. At the same time, decentralized exchanges of the likes of Uniswap are capable of handling trillions of dollars worth of trading volume.
Franklin Templeton’s crypto journey
Franklin Templeton is, of course, not new to crypto. It started exploring the nascent asset class in 2018.
In September 2021, the firm filed to raise $20 million via its first blockchain venture fund.
The company also offers several cryptocurrency ETFs. In late 2024, the company obtained approval to launch the first ETF that combines Bitcoin and Ether in partnership with Hashdex.
As reported by U.Today, Franklin Templeton is also the largest player to file for spot-based Solana ad XRP ETFs.
