Franklin Templeton’s Chetan Karkhanis: Asia leads in tokenized finance
RWA Signal Insight
U.S. TreasuriesFranklin Templeton is aggressively expanding its tokenized finance footprint in Asia, identifying Korea, Japan, Singapore, and Hong Kong as leaders in the sector. The firm asserts these markets are two to three years ahead of global peers, supported by clear regulatory frameworks like Singapore’s Monetary Authority guidelines and Hong Kong’s Fintech 2030 plan. Franklin Templeton has executed a series of strategic launches, including Hong Kong’s first tokenized money market fund in November 2025 and a partnership with DBS Bank for a Singaporean retail fund. Further expansion occurred in 2026 through collaborations with DigiFT and HashKey Exchange to distribute tokenized products and the Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Liquidity Fund. These initiatives leverage the proprietary Benji platform, which facilitates fractional ownership and on-chain settlement for traditional assets. The firm’s strategy focuses on familiar products like Treasuries and money market funds to drive institutional adoption rather than speculative DeFi applications. This regional momentum mirrors broader market trends, where total tokenized RWA volume on public blockchains surged from $5.5 billion in 2021 to $18.6 billion by 2025. By prioritizing pragmatic integration, Franklin Templeton aims to enhance traditional financial infrastructure through blockchain efficiency.
Key points
- Asia leads global tokenized finance adoption by an estimated two to three years.
- Total tokenized RWA volume on public blockchains grew 3.4x to $18.6 billion by 2025.
- Franklin Templeton launched tokenized money market funds in Hong Kong and Singapore.
- The Benji platform enables on-chain settlement for US-registered mutual funds.
Background
Franklin Templeton’s Benji platform is a proprietary blockchain infrastructure designed to bridge traditional investment products with distributed ledger technology. It allows for the tokenization of mutual funds, providing investors with features like fractional ownership, increased transparency, and near-instant on-chain settlement. The platform was notably used to launch the first US-registered mutual fund to utilize a public blockchain.