Franklin Templeton has expanded the blockchain presence of its BENJI money market fund by adding support for the XRP Ledger, extending its existing deployment on the Stellar network. The move strengthens the asset manager’s push into blockchain-based financial products and reflects growing institutional interest in using multiple blockchain networks for tokenized real-world assets.
The expansion is expected to improve the fund’s operational flexibility, particularly in areas such as interest calculations, liquidity management, and the movement of tokenized financial assets. Franklin Templeton, which manages approximately $1.79 trillion in assets, continues to explore blockchain infrastructure as a means of modernizing traditional investment products.
BENJI Fund Expands Beyond Stellar
The BENJI fund represents Franklin Templeton’s efforts to bring traditional money market investments onto blockchain infrastructure. By extending the product to the XRP Ledger, the company is broadening the networks through which investors can access its blockchain-based investment offering.
The addition of XRP Ledger creates another blockchain environment for the fund’s operations alongside Stellar. This multi-chain approach could provide greater flexibility in managing tokenized fund shares while allowing the asset manager to utilize different blockchain ecosystems for financial services.
The expansion also highlights the growing role of blockchain networks in supporting traditional financial products, particularly money market funds that require efficient liquidity management and transparent investment operations.
The integration is particularly relevant to institutional investors seeking blockchain-based alternatives to conventional financial infrastructure. Tokenization allows ownership interests in financial assets to be represented digitally on a blockchain, potentially improving the efficiency of recordkeeping, settlement, and asset transfers.
Franklin Templeton’s decision to expand BENJI across blockchain networks also demonstrates that established asset managers are increasingly considering interoperability and network diversity when developing digital investment products.
Singapore Fund Adds $150 Million in XRP-Based Shares
The expansion has already attracted attention through developments involving the Singapore version of the fund. According to reports, the Singapore-based BENJI offering recently recorded approximately $150 million in newly issued shares on the XRP Ledger.
The development indicates growing institutional participation in blockchain-based investment products and provides another example of traditional financial assets being introduced into digital infrastructure.
The addition of new shares also highlights the potential for blockchain networks to support the issuance and management of regulated investment products. As more financial institutions explore tokenization, the ability to issue, track, and manage fund interests through distributed ledger technology could become an increasingly important part of investment operations.
However, the development of tokenized funds will also depend on investor demand, regulatory requirements, operational safeguards, and the ability of blockchain infrastructure to support institutional financial activity.
Stellar Maintains a Strong Position in Real-World Asset Tokenization
Despite the expansion onto XRP Ledger, Stellar continues to hold a significant position in the real-world asset tokenization sector. The network reportedly leads the ecosystem with approximately $4 billion in tokenized real-world assets.
Its established presence in tokenized financial products demonstrates the continued interest among institutions in using blockchain infrastructure for traditional assets.
The growing adoption of these networks also comes amid challenging market conditions for cryptocurrencies. Stellar’s native XLM token has faced bearish price conditions, highlighting the difference between cryptocurrency market performance and the adoption of the underlying blockchain infrastructure.
Institutional participation in tokenization can continue expanding even when the associated cryptocurrencies experience price weakness, as financial institutions may evaluate networks based on their technology, reliability, and suitability for financial applications rather than short-term token performance.
Multi-Chain Finance Gains Institutional Attention
Franklin Templeton‘s BENJI expansion reflects a broader shift toward integrating blockchain technology into established financial markets. Rather than relying on a single network, asset managers are exploring multiple blockchain environments to support digital securities and investment products.
The expansion of BENJI to XRP Ledger, alongside its existing Stellar presence, reinforces the growing importance of multi-chain infrastructure in the institutional adoption of tokenized financial assets.
As traditional asset managers continue experimenting with blockchain-based investment products, developments involving Franklin Templeton could help demonstrate how established financial instruments can operate within increasingly interconnected digital asset ecosystems.
