Franklin Templeton expands Benji tokenization platform to Canton Network

Franklin Templeton has expanded its tokenization and investor platform, Benji, to the Canton Network, marking another step in the growth of institutional blockchain infrastructure for tokenized investment products.

The integration, announced Wednesday, connects Franklin Templeton’s proprietary Benji Technology Platform to Canton, a blockchain network designed for regulated financial institutions. The move enables Benji’s tokenized assets, including its onchain US government money market fund, to be used as collateral and liquidity within Canton’s Global Collateral Network.

Each Benji token represents a share of Franklin Templeton’s tokenized money market fund, with yields calculated intraday and ownership recorded onchain.

The collaboration aims to link regulated tokenized investment products with institutional digital-asset markets, as more traditional financial institutions explore blockchain adoption amid clearer regulatory frameworks.

Canton’s Global Collateral Network connects banks, market makers and asset managers, allowing them to tokenize and mobilize assets for collateral management and settlement.

The network’s institutional focus has attracted major backers, including HSBC and BNP Paribas. Its developer, Digital Asset, recently raised $135 million to expand Canton’s infrastructure and ecosystem.

By joining Canton, Franklin Templeton adds regulated, onchain investment products to a growing roster of tokenized instruments on the network, further bridging the divide between traditional finance and digital-asset markets.

Related: Franklin Templeton to bring BENJI platform to VeChain for enterprise payments

Institutions embrace tokenization

Franklin Templeton is among a growing number of major financial institutions turning to the tokenization of real-world assets (RWAs) — a shift that Hashgraph CEO Eric Piscini attributes partly to “rules getting clearer in major markets.”

Piscini pointed to BlackRock’s tokenized fund initiatives, Citi’s exploration of digital asset custody and Franklin Templeton’s Benji platform as examples of traditional finance embracing blockchain-based infrastructure.

Proponents argue that trillions of dollars in RWAs could eventually move onchain, citing benefits such as faster settlement, improved transparency, lower operational costs and enhanced liquidity. Still, as Pharos CEO Alex Zhang noted in a recent Cointelegraph op-ed, building a compliant and interoperable foundation for tokenized finance takes time.

The total value of tokenized real-world assets excluding stablecoins has climbed to roughly $36.6 billion, according to industry data. Institutional funds make up about $3 billion of that figure, while tokenized US Treasurys account for approximately $8.4 billion.

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