Franklin Templeton brings Benji tokenization platform to BNB Chain

Franklin Templeton is expanding its Benji Technology Platform to BNB Chain in a move aimed at broadening access to tokenized investment products.

The Benji platform is Franklin Templeton’s proprietary tokenization platform designed to facilitate trading, management, and administration of token-based investments. It was used to launch the world’s first U.S.-registered mutual fund onchain in 2021 and now underpins several tokenized products that the firm says serve retail and institutional clients.

That mutual fund is Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund (FOBXX), which uses blockchain technology to process transactions and record share ownership. The fund’s transfer agent maintains the official record of share ownership via the Benji platform, which currently utilizes public blockchain networks for transaction activity.

Benji's spported blockchains include Ethereum, Solana, Base, Stellar, Polygon, Arbitrum, Avalanche, and Aptos. One share of FOBXX is represented by one BENJI token. The token currently has a total locked value of about $732 million, with nearly $480 million on the Stellar blockchain, according to RWA.xyz data.

Franklin Templeton's Benji expands to BNB Chain

By deploying on BNB Chain, Franklin Templeton said Benji will gain access to more users while using the network’s low-cost and compliance-focused infrastructure. “Our goal is to meet more investors where they’re active, while continuing to push the boundaries of what tokenization can deliver with security and compliance at the forefront,” said Roger Bayston, head of digital assets at Franklin Templeton.

BNB Chain has positioned itself as a hub for real-world asset tokenization, hosting money market funds, credit instruments, and other financial instruments. Sarah Song, head of business development at BNB Chain, said Franklin Templeton’s decision “demonstrates that BNB Chain can support regulated, real-world assets at scale.”

The move follows Franklin Templeton’s partnership with Binance announced last week to explore joint initiatives around digital assets and tokenization. Taken together, the two developments underline the asset manager’s efforts to expand its blockchain footprint and deliver tokenized products across a range of platforms.

Franklin Templeton, which oversees $1.6 trillion in assets under management, has been focused on tokenization for several years. Tokenization is increasingly becoming concrete in traditional finance, with institutions embracing blockchain to accelerate settlement, boost accessibility, and inject transparency into previously opaque markets.

Earlier this month, Nasdaq filed a rule change with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to allow tokenized versions of listed stocks and ETFs to trade alongside their traditional counterparts — a first-of-its-kind push that could bring blockchain-based settlement into the national market system as soon as the third quarter of 2026, if approved.

Still, institutional adoption of tokenization remains limited, JPMorgan analysts noted in a recent report. They pointed to three main barriers: fragmented cross-border regulation, lack of legal clarity on onchain investments, and concerns over enforceability and protocol reliability.