Franklin Templeton and DigiFT Advance Institutional Tokenization Through Strategic BENJI Partnership
- Franklin Templeton’s Benji Technology Platform and related tokenization products are being made available through DigiFT’s MAS-licensed platform to support institutional use cases.
- Demonstrates how institutional-grade tokenization infrastructure can support yield-accruing, U.S. government-backed securities strategies that accrue daily and remain transferable 24/7 — serving simultaneously as treasury instruments, yield infrastructure, and deployable off-exchange collateral
- Marks the first in a long-term strategic collaboration between Franklin Templeton and DigiFT to advance institutional-grade tokenization capabilities
Singapore, 20 May 2026 — DigiFT, a regulated digital asset exchange for institutional-grade real-world assets, and Franklin Templeton, a global investment leader with USD 1.74 trillion in assets under management1, today announced a long-term strategic partnership to make the Benji Technology Platform and its related tokenization products available to accredited and institutional investors through DigiFT’s platform. DigiFT holds Capital Markets Services and Recognised Market Operator licences from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) — a regulatory standing that makes DigiFT specifically authorised to distribute regulated securities tokens to institutional investors in Singapore.
The collaboration is grounded in a shared early commitment to institutional tokenization. Franklin Templeton launched the first U.S.-registered mutual fund to use a public blockchain to process transactions and record share ownership in 2021. DigiFT has built one of Asia’s most comprehensively regulated platforms for institutional tokenized asset distribution — holding licences in both Singapore and Hong Kong, including Type 1 and Type 4 licences from the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong. This partnership brings those two track records together: DigiFT will serve as a key distributor across Asia, with both organisations committed to expanding the scope of their work together over time.
The partnership arrives at a decisive moment. In 2025, tokenized real-world assets distributed on public blockchains grew from approximately USD 5.5 billion to USD 18.6 billion, with tokenized U.S. government securities emerging as the leading institutional category.² This growth underscores a structural inefficiency in digital markets, where institutional capital is frequently held in non‑yielding stablecoins or on‑exchange balances, while traditional fund infrastructure remains constrained by defined settlement cycles. The Benji Technology Platform and its related tokenization products are designed to address this gap by supporting the tokenization of U.S. government securities strategies that accrue yield continuously, including intraday accrual, through Franklin Templeton’s patent‑pending Intraday Yield mechanism3. It also supports 24/7 transferability between permissioned wallets and near‑instant on‑chain settlement, enabling a range of potential institutional treasury management, payment and settlement use cases, and deployable off‑exchange collateral for institutional market participants.
Figure 1: (From Left to Right) Henry Zhang, Founder and CEO at DigiFT and Chetan Karkhanis, SVP, Digital Asset Partnership Development at Franklin Templeton
Henry Zhang, Founder and Group CEO of DigiFT, said: “DigiFT was built with a specific conviction: that institutional investors deserve access to the world’s best on-chain financial instruments, through a platform that meets the regulatory standard they require. The partnership with Franklin Templeton reflects that conviction and marks the beginning of a long-term strategic collaboration to bring tokenized solutions to market.”
Chetan Karkhanis, SVP, Digital Asset Partnership Development at Franklin Templeton, said: “The partners we choose reflect our long-term commitment, not just our near-term distribution objectives towards bringing the benefits of blockchain and tokenization to the industry. DigiFT’s leadership and innovative edge, together with the institutional infrastructure they have built, provides a strong foundation for this partnership. This marks the beginning of what we expect to be an expanding and enduring collaboration.”
The Benji Technology Platform is Franklin Templeton’s proprietary blockchain‑enabled recordkeeping and transfer agency infrastructure designed to support tokenized investment strategies across both retail and institutional channels. Using this platform, Franklin Templeton launched the world’s first U.S.‑registered mutual fund to use blockchain technology for transaction processing and share recordkeeping in 2021 and subsequently applied the platform to additional tokenization initiatives in other jurisdictions.
Franklin Templeton is a pioneer in digital asset investing and blockchain innovation, combining tokenomics research, data science, and technical expertise to deliver cutting-edge solutions since 2018. Learn more at Franklin Templeton Digital Assets.
[1] Franklin Resources, Inc. preliminary month-end AUM of USD 1.74 trillion as at 30 April 2026, as announced on 5 May 2026. Source: Franklin Resources, Inc. press release. http://www.investors.franklinresources.com/news-center/press-releases/press-release-details/2026/Franklin-Resources-Inc–Announces-Preliminary-Month-End-Assets-Under-Management-fd4e3db4e/default.aspx
[2] Source: RWA.xyz, distributed tokenized RWA market data, December 2025. Figures reflect distributed assets (wallet-transferable on public blockchains) per RWA.xyz’s 2025 methodology. As reported in The Defiant, 25 December 2025: http://www.thedefiant.io/news/defi/rwas-became-wall-street-s-gateway-to-crypto-in-2025. RWA.xyz data is cited by J.P. Morgan, Standard Chartered, and the Financial Times, among others.
[3] Franklin Templeton’s patent-pending Intraday Yield mechanism calculates yield at one-second resolution, capturing accrual proportional to the precise time each position is held, including during intraday transfers. Yield is distributed as newly minted BENJI tokens on all calendar days, including weekends and public holidays. Sources: Franklin Templeton official press release, 10 June 2025: http://www.franklintempleton.com/press-releases/news-room/2025/franklin-templeton-launches-patent-pending-intraday-yield-feature-on-benji-technology-platform. Reported by Decrypt: http://www.decrypt.co/324315/franklin-templeton-unveils-intraday-yield-tokenized-assets-benji
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About DigiFT
DigiFT is a next-generation platform for tokenized real-world assets (RWAs), regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) for Type 1 and Type 4 regulated activities. The platform offers end-to-end digital asset services — including tokenization, issuance, distribution, trading, and instant liquidity provision — purpose-built for institutional RWAs. Trusted by global financial institutions, DigiFT is the on-chain tokenization and distribution partner for leading asset managers such as BNY, CMB International, DBS Bank, Hines, Invesco, UBS Asset Management, and Wellington Management. Learn more at http://www.digift.io.
About Franklin Templeton
Franklin Templeton is a trusted investment partner, delivering tailored solutions that align with clients’ strategic goals. With deep portfolio management expertise across public and private markets, we combine investment excellence with cutting-edge technology. Since our founding in 1947, we have empowered clients through strategic partnership, forward-looking insights, and continuous innovation – providing the tools and resources to navigate change and capture
opportunity. With US$1.74 trillion in assets under management as of April 30, 2026, Franklin Templeton operates globally in more than 35 countries.To learn more, visit https://www.franklintempleton.com.sg and follow us on LinkedIn.
Franklin Resources, Inc. [NYSE: BEN]
