Franklin Templeton Expands $1.5B BENJI Fund to BNB Chain

Franklin Templeton has expanded its BENJI tokenized money market fund, valued at approximately $1.5 billion, to BNB Chain, marking another step in the asset manager’s broader blockchain strategy. The move extends one of the world’s largest tokenized investment products to an additional public blockchain, broadening access for investors while reinforcing the growing role of blockchain technology in traditional finance.

Crypto analyst ALLINCRYPTO indicated that Stellar initially served as the foundation for the BENJI fund before Franklin Templeton gradually transformed the product into a multi-chain offering. The expansion reflects the company’s ongoing effort to distribute regulated financial products across multiple blockchain ecosystems.

According to data shared by BNB Chain from RWA.xyz, around $1.5 billion worth of BENJI assets are now represented on the network, accounting for 61.71% of the fund’s total value. The data also showed that holdings on BNB Chain surged by 1,226% over the past month, allowing the network to overtake all other supported blockchains and become the fund’s largest host.

Blockchain Distribution Shifts as BNB Chain Overtakes Stellar

The rapid increase in assets on BNB Chain has significantly altered the distribution of BENJI across supported blockchains. Stellar, which had previously been the dominant network for the tokenized fund, now ranks second with approximately $583 million in assets. This represents 23.76% of the fund’s overall value. Data from RWA.xyz further indicated that Stellar’s holdings declined by 11.81% during the past month as assets increasingly migrated to BNB Chain.

Ethereum remains the third-largest blockchain supporting the BENJI fund, hosting approximately $159.1 million in tokenized assets, equivalent to 6.48% of the total portfolio. Base, Arbitrum, and Avalanche follow with considerably smaller allocations. Combined, these three networks account for less than 6% of the fund’s overall value.

Franklin Templeton has steadily expanded its blockchain initiatives over the past several years. In 2021, the investment firm introduced the first U.S.-registered mutual fund to utilize blockchain technology for transaction processing and ownership recordkeeping. Since then, the company has continued expanding the BENJI platform across multiple blockchain networks while supporting tokenized money market funds, mutual funds, and additional investment products.

The addition of BNB Chain represents another major milestone in Franklin Templeton’s multi-chain strategy, enabling broader investor access through a blockchain network known for lower transaction costs and faster transaction processing.

Roger Bayston, Franklin Templeton’s head of digital assets, explained that the company’s objective was to make its investment products available wherever investors are actively participating, highlighting its focus on expanding accessibility across blockchain ecosystems.

Tokenization Continues to Gain Momentum

Franklin Templeton’s latest expansion comes as tokenization continues to gain traction across the financial industry. Earlier in the week, the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) completed its first live production trades involving tokenized securities, signaling that blockchain applications are increasingly moving beyond experimental pilots and into operational financial infrastructure.

The expansion highlights the accelerating adoption of tokenized financial products as major asset managers increasingly integrate traditional investment vehicles with public blockchain networks.

Competition among blockchain platforms has also intensified as financial institutions seek networks capable of supporting regulated investment products. Public blockchains are increasingly positioning themselves as infrastructure providers for tokenized assets, with scalability, transaction costs, and processing speed becoming key differentiators.

Franklin Templeton‘s decision to extend the BENJI fund to BNB Chain underscores the broader industry trend of bringing conventional financial products onto public blockchains while expanding accessibility for institutional and retail investors alike.