Franklin Templeton, the company that manages over $1.6 trillion in assets, announced this week that shareholders of the Franklin OnChain US Government Money Fund (FOBXX) can now transfer shares directly to one another using the public blockchain.
The FOBXX fund, launched in 2021, is a pioneer in utilizing blockchain technology for transaction processing and share ownership recording. The fund initially employed the Stellar blockchain network through a proprietary system for these transactions. Since last April, it’s been additionally supported on the Polygon blockchain.
Each share of the Fund is equivalent to one BENJI token, with the transfer agent keeping the official share ownership records, Franklin Templeton shared in the press release. As of the end of March 2024, the fund’s assets under management surpassed $360 million.
“We are excited that BENJI token holders will have the ability to transfer shares amongst each other,” stated Roger Bayston, Head of Digital Assets at Franklin Templeton. “Eventually, we hope for assets built on blockchain rails, such as the Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund, to work seamlessly with the rest of the digital asset ecosystem.”
According to Franklin Templeton, the FOBXX fund aims to provide a competitive yield while preserving shareholder capital and liquidity. It adheres to the 1940 Act, investing primarily in government securities and maintaining a stable share price of $1.
The firm noted that investors can access the fund through the Benji Investments app on Android and iOS, and institutional investors can also use the Benji Institutional web portal.
Franklin Templeton is stepping up its game in the market for tokenized government bonds, which has recently become more competitive following the debut of BlackRock’s BUIDL, its tokenized fund powered by the Ethereum blockchain, in partnership with Securitize.
BlackRock’s BUIDL registered over $240 million in deposits within the first week and currently captures 25% of the market share ($304 million), according to Dune Analytics.
Franklin Templeton holds the top position in government securities tokenization with 32% market share ($384 million). Total assets under management by tokenized funds currently stand at around $1.2 billion.
