Payward, the parent company of Kraken, has joined forces with Franklin Templeton to bridge traditional financial products with blockchain technology. This strategic collaboration aims to bring tokenized assets and yield-bearing instruments to both institutional and select retail clients through Kraken’s exchange platform.
At the heart of the partnership is the integration of Franklin Templeton’s BENJI tokenized money market fund into Kraken’s ecosystem. This fund will serve as collateral and a cash management tool, allowing professional traders to earn yield on their idle dollar holdings without leaving the exchange. BENJI, which launched in 2021 on Stellar and later expanded to Polygon and Arbitrum, is one of the pioneering tokenized money market funds. It competes directly with BlackRock’s BUIDL fund, which recently surpassed $2.3 billion in assets under management. By embedding BENJI into Kraken’s infrastructure, Franklin Templeton gains access to a vast distribution network, while Kraken can offer a regulated, yield-generating alternative to stablecoins like USDT or USDC.
Beyond this initial integration, the two firms plan to leverage Payward’s xStocks framework to create new on-chain actively managed products. xStocks has already processed over $30 billion in transaction volume since its launch, providing tokenized access to more than 50 US stocks and ETFs. This framework positions Kraken as a key player in tokenized traditional assets, rivaling dedicated platforms like Ondo Finance.
The partnership is part of Franklin Templeton’s broader strategy to build a comprehensive crypto and tokenization business. The firm has expanded its Franklin Crypto division through the acquisition of 250 Digital, which adds research and portfolio management capabilities. Additionally, Franklin Templeton’s spot XRP ETF led the market with $13.6 million in daily inflows, the highest since January 5, 2026. With a tokenized money market fund, a crypto investment arm, and a distribution deal with a leading exchange, Franklin Templeton is positioning itself as an end-to-end on-chain asset manager, distinct from traditional firms that only dabble in tokenization.
For Kraken, landing Franklin Templeton as a product partner signals that xStocks is evolving from a simple tokenized equity venue into a full-fledged institutional financial platform backed by Wall Street names. This move intensifies the competition among major asset managers like BlackRock, Fidelity, and Franklin Templeton to dominate on-chain distribution, a trend that would have seemed experimental just a few years ago.