Franklin Templeton expands blockchain fund to Avalanche network

Franklin Templeton, a global asset management firm, has expanded its Franklin OnChain US Government Money Fund to the Avalanche network.

According to a press release shared with Cointelegraph, the expansion to the layer-1 blockchain will be the “first-of-its-kind onchain money market fund” on Avalanche.

The fund, which launched in 2021, allows institutional investors access to Franklin Templeton’s blockchain-integrated record-keeping system, Benji Investments.

“[Investors] may hold their wallets on the Avalanche network upon request and subject to eligibility.”

Related: Franklin Templeton files S-1 for new crypto index ETF

The decision to expand to Avalanche

Franklin Templeton’s decision to expand to Avalanche builds upon its existing digital asset initiatives, which can be seen in the firm’s digital assets teams’ focus on blockchain technology since 2018.

In the press release, Ava Labs president John Wu stated that he was “thrilled” to see the fund expand to the Avalanche network:

“Franklin Templeton shares a mutual commitment to developing transformative digital financial products and services that will meet onchain investor demand today and bring offchain capital and users into the ecosystem tomorrow.”

In a written Q&A with Cointelegraph, Wu explained the significance of the expansion of the fund into the Avalanche ecosystem, describing it as a “foundational piece.”

“Blockchain and tokenization enable traditional finance to more easily reach people and businesses, offering new capabilities that are not possible via traditional rails.”

Related: Franklin Templeton’s tokenized money fund launches on Arbitrum

Franklin Templeton ETF filing

On Aug. 16, the global asset management firm applied to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission to launch a new exchange-traded fund (ETF) . 

The new ETF — the Franklin Crypto Index ETF — is designed to be a one-stop-shop crypto portfolio and to track the performance of the CF Institutional Digital Asset Index.

Katalin Tischhauser, head of investment research at Sygnum, explained that the “next logical step” is index ETFs because “indices are efficient for investors.”

Related: Exclusive: Franklin Templeton mulls bringing RWAs to Ethereum, user-managed wallets

Fund launch on Arbitrum

On Aug. 8, Franklin Templeton also  announced the launch of the fund on Arbitrum, which aims to bridge traditional finance and decentralized finance.

Users of the fund on the Benji Investments platform can acquire and hold its tokenized shares on Arbitrum to generate low-risk investment yields.

With the addition of the Avalanche network to the fund’s expansive efforts, Franklin Templeton now offers tokenized shares on Avalanche, Arbitrum, Stellar and Polygon.

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