Franklin Templeton CEO says rival tokenized funds miss the point of blockchain

Native vs Digital Twin

Franklin Templeton CEO Jenny Johnson argued that many rival tokenized funds are digital copies of traditional products that don't capture what blockchain actually offers. Johnson drew a line between Franklin Templeton's tokenized offerings and what she characterized as 'digital twin' funds elsewhere in the market.

BENJI Product Overview

Franklin Templeton's pitch is that its BENJI product works the other way around. The fund's records are natively based on public blockchains, so the chain is the source of truth rather than a reflection of one. Johnson pointed to two practical benefits of that design. The first is real-time yield calculation, with BENJI supporting per-second yield accrual.

Cost Comparison

Johnson highlighted a transaction cost of $1.13 for BENJI, compared with approximately $150 per transaction under traditional methods. This cost comparison is the most concrete part of her argument. A transaction cost of $1.13 against roughly $150 is easy to understand, and it gives procurement teams a number to put in a spreadsheet.

Institutional Partnerships

BENJI has also found a role in institutional collateral arrangements, with partnerships now allowing BENJI shares to serve as off-exchange collateral on crypto platforms including Bybit and Binance.

Franklin Templeton's Tokenization Strategy

Franklin Templeton has also been using BENJI in its own corporate dealings. In April 2026, the firm acquired 250 Digital, a crypto investment team, from CoinFund, with part of the payment made in BENJI tokens. This means that Franklin Templeton has effectively put tokens where its mouth is.