Franklin Templeton advances institutional tokenized finance through a strategic expansion of its proprietary Benji Technology Platform to the Canton Network, linking its blockchain-integrated infrastructure with a permissioned, institution-focused blockchain that connects banks, asset managers and trading firms deepening access to regulated tokenized financial products.
Franklin Templeton, a global investment manager with more than $1.5 trillion in assets under management has broadened its tokenization footprint by integrating its Benji platform onto the Canton Network’s Global Collateral Network, a distributed blockchain ecosystem designed for regulated institutional finance. This move enables tokenized investment products, including its on-chain money market funds, to serve as collateral and liquidity sources for market participants in a compliant, permissioned environment.
A Strategic Expansion of the Benji Technology Platform
The Benji Technology Platform is Franklin Templeton’s blockchain-native infrastructure designed to issue, manage, and record tokenized investment products directly on distributed ledgers. Since its initial launch, Benji has supported on-chain versions of regulated funds, including tokenized money market funds, enabling investors to hold and transact traditional financial instruments in digital form.
By extending Benji to the Canton Network, Franklin Templeton is expanding both the utility and reach of its tokenized products. The integration allows tokenized fund shares issued through Benji to interact seamlessly with Canton’s institutional ecosystem, where banks, broker-dealers, asset managers, custodians, and trading firms operate within a permissioned and compliant environment.
This connection transforms tokenized funds from standalone digital assets into active components of institutional workflows—particularly for collateral management and liquidity provisioning.
Understanding the Canton Network’s Role in Institutional Finance
The Canton Network is a blockchain infrastructure specifically designed to meet the stringent requirements of institutional finance. Unlike fully public blockchains, Canton operates as a hybrid public-permissioned network, enabling privacy, compliance, and regulatory controls while still supporting interoperability and shared settlement across participants.
At the core of this ecosystem is the Global Collateral Network, which enables institutions to mobilize assets—including tokenized securities—as collateral across counterparties and use cases. By integrating Benji into this environment, Franklin Templeton is enabling its tokenized investment products to function as collateral-ready instruments within a regulated, institutionally trusted framework.
This design addresses one of the primary barriers to blockchain adoption among financial institutions: the need to maintain confidentiality, regulatory oversight, and operational control while benefiting from distributed ledger efficiencies.
Bridging Traditional Asset Management and Blockchain Innovation
Tokenization—the process of representing real-world assets as digital tokens on a blockchain—has long been cited as a transformative force in finance. In practice, however, adoption among institutions has been slower than early proponents anticipated, largely due to regulatory uncertainty, operational complexity, and concerns around interoperability.
Franklin Templeton’s strategy with Benji is focused on overcoming these hurdles by embedding tokenization within familiar investment structures and regulated products. Rather than creating entirely new asset classes, the firm is bringing existing, compliant investment vehicles onto blockchain rails.
The expansion to the Canton Network strengthens this bridge between traditional finance and tokenized markets. Institutions can now access blockchain-based liquidity and settlement benefits while continuing to operate within governance frameworks that align with existing regulatory obligations.
New Use Cases for Tokenized Funds as Collateral
One of the most important implications of this integration is the ability for institutions to use tokenized investment products as collateral within blockchain-based networks.
Traditionally, collateral management in capital markets involves multiple intermediaries, manual reconciliation, delayed settlement, and fragmented visibility across systems. Tokenization, combined with a shared ledger like Canton, offers a path toward real-time collateral mobility and improved capital efficiency.
With Benji-enabled tokenized funds connected to the Global Collateral Network, institutions gain:
Faster access to liquidity, as tokenized assets can be pledged or mobilized on-chain
Improved capital efficiency, reducing the need to hold excess collateral buffers
Operational transparency, with real-time visibility into asset ownership and status
Reduced settlement risk, enabled by atomic transactions and programmable logic
These capabilities are particularly relevant for money market funds and other low-risk investment products that play a central role in short-term liquidity management.
A Permissioned Approach That Aligns With Regulation
A key differentiator of Franklin Templeton’s tokenization strategy is its emphasis on regulated environments. The Canton Network’s permissioned structure ensures that only authorized participants can interact with assets, data, and smart contracts, while still benefiting from distributed ledger technology.
For institutional participants, this approach mitigates concerns around data privacy, counterparty exposure, and regulatory compliance. It also aligns with supervisory expectations around auditability, reporting, and risk management.
By choosing Canton as a strategic partner, Franklin Templeton signals that the future of institutional tokenized finance is likely to be built on purpose-designed networks, rather than open, permissionless blockchains that may not meet regulatory standards for large financial institutions.
Interoperability and the Evolution of Institutional DeFi
Another important dimension of the Benji–Canton integration is interoperability. Institutional finance operates across multiple asset classes, systems, and counterparties, making seamless interaction a critical requirement for adoption.
Canton’s architecture supports interoperability across applications while maintaining privacy boundaries. This enables tokenized assets to interact with a broader ecosystem of institutional decentralized finance (DeFi) use cases, including collateral optimization, repo transactions, margining, and settlement.
By linking Benji to this environment, Franklin Templeton is positioning its tokenized products as building blocks within a growing institutional DeFi landscape—one that prioritizes compliance, risk management, and operational scalability.
Leadership Perspective on Institutional Readiness
Roger Bayston, Head of Digital Assets at Franklin Templeton, has consistently emphasized the importance of meeting institutions “where they are” in their blockchain journey. The expansion of Benji to the Canton Network reflects this philosophy by providing infrastructure that balances innovation with institutional readiness.
Rather than asking institutions to radically alter their operating models, Franklin Templeton’s approach integrates blockchain capabilities into existing financial frameworks, allowing adoption to occur incrementally and responsibly.
This strategy resonates with institutions that recognize the long-term potential of tokenization but require solutions that align with their regulatory, operational, and fiduciary responsibilities.
Why This Development Matters for Capital Markets
The integration of Benji with the Canton Network is more than a technical enhancement—it represents a meaningful step toward mainstream institutional adoption of tokenized finance.
Several broader trends underscore its significance:
Institutional interest in tokenization is rising, particularly for funds, bonds, and collateral
Regulators are increasingly engaging with blockchain-based market infrastructure
Capital markets participants are seeking ways to improve settlement speed and liquidity efficiency
Traditional asset managers are playing a growing role in shaping digital asset standards
Franklin Templeton’s move demonstrates how established financial institutions can lead this transition by combining regulatory credibility with technological innovation.
Competitive Implications for Asset Management
As more asset managers explore tokenization, early movers like Franklin Templeton gain important advantages. By building operational experience, forming strategic partnerships, and deploying real-world use cases, the firm is establishing itself as a trusted provider of tokenized investment solutions.
This leadership may prove increasingly valuable as institutional clients seek partners that can support digital asset strategies without introducing undue risk. The ability to offer blockchain-native products that integrate seamlessly into institutional workflows could become a key differentiator in the asset management industry.
The Broader Shift Toward Tokenized Financial Infrastructure
The expansion of Benji to Canton also reflects a broader transformation underway in financial market infrastructure. Tokenization is no longer confined to proof-of-concept projects—it is being embedded into systems that support real capital, real counterparties, and real regulatory oversight.
As more institutions participate in networks like Canton, network effects are likely to accelerate, increasing liquidity, interoperability, and innovation across the ecosystem.
Franklin Templeton’s participation helps validate this model and encourages further engagement from banks, custodians, and trading firms seeking to modernize their operations.
Looking Ahead: The Future of Institutional Tokenized Finance
While tokenization is still in its early stages, developments like this suggest a clear trajectory. The future of institutional finance is likely to involve:
Tokenized versions of traditional assets operating alongside conventional systems
Shared blockchain infrastructure for settlement, collateral, and liquidity management
Greater automation through smart contracts and programmable finance
Deeper collaboration between asset managers, banks, and technology providers
By expanding Benji to the Canton Network, Franklin Templeton is positioning itself at the forefront of this evolution—helping shape how tokenized finance is deployed responsibly at institutional scale.
Conclusion
Franklin Templeton’s expansion of its Benji Technology Platform to the Canton Network marks a pivotal moment in the evolution of institutional tokenized finance. By connecting regulated, on-chain investment products with a purpose-built institutional blockchain ecosystem, the firm is unlocking new use cases for liquidity, collateral, and settlement while maintaining the compliance and governance standards demanded by global financial markets.
This move underscores the convergence of traditional asset management and blockchain innovation, demonstrating how tokenization can be integrated into real-world institutional workflows. As adoption accelerates, Franklin Templeton’s strategy offers a compelling blueprint for how established financial institutions can lead the transition toward more efficient, transparent, and programmable capital markets.
FinTech News shares the latest trends and insights on fintech, digital banking, payments, AI in finance, and spend management.
