Franklin Templeton launches US-registered fund on blockchain with Polygon

Leading asset manager Franklin Templeton, overseeing $1.4 trillion worth of assets on behalf of its clients, has revealed that one of its funds is now supported on the Polygon blockchain.

According to the announcement, the Nasdaq-listed OnChain US Government Money Fund (FOBXX) is the first US-registered fund to use blockchain technology to process transactions and record share ownership.

FOBXX invests in American government securities, cash, and repurchase agreements and has over $270 million in AUM. The fund’s extension to Polygon will make it more compatible with the rest of the digital ecosystem, mainly through an Ethereum-based blockchain. 

Polygon is the blockchain behind MATIC, the 10th largest cryptocurrency by market cap, and aims to make Ethereum faster and more efficient.

According to Roger Bayston, Head of Digital Assets at Franklin Templeton, the extension of FOBXX to Polygon will allow the fund to be more compatible with the digital ecosystem, specifically through an Ethereum-based blockchain. 

Colin Butler, Global Head of Institutional Capital at Polygon Labs, stated that Franklin Templeton is at the forefront of asset tokenization.

Using the Benji Investments mobile app, investors can purchase shares of FOBXX and store them in digital wallets. Franklin Templeton has been involved with cryptocurrencies for a while. Two years ago, it started a digital asset venture fund, and in 2019, it put digital shares for a money market fund on Stellar’s blockchain.

Investors turn to money market funds and blockchain

With the recent market volatility and banking crisis, investors increasingly turn to money market funds to hedge their investment risks. As more institutional investors become interested in digital assets, traditional financial players seize the opportunity to combine the two worlds by offering such funds through blockchain technology. 

For instance, Ondo Finance recently announced a stablecoin alternative pegged to the US dollar and backed by money-market funds traded on traditional exchanges.