Franklin Templeton and DigiFT have formed a new alliance to bring the BENJI Technology Platform and its associated tokenized offerings to accredited and institutional investors across the region. This collaboration highlights the growing momentum behind blockchain-enabled financial products and positions the organizations at the center of bridging traditional asset management with decentralized infrastructure.
The partnership leverages DigiFT’s regulatory framework in Singapore and Hong Kong.
As a platform licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) as a Capital Markets Services provider and Recognised Market Operator, DigiFT is now positioned to distribute regulated security tokens to qualified institutional participants.
Franklin Templeton, a global asset management company that is currently overseeing approximately $1.74 trillion in total assets, brings its experience in blockchain appls to the collab.
This initiative represents the first phase of a long-term cooperation aimed at expanding institutional-grade tokenized solutions.
Franklin Templeton has been an early mover in this space, having introduced the first US-registered mutual fund utilizing public blockchain technology for transaction processing and ownership records back in 2021.
DigiFT, meanwhile, has established itself as one of Asia’s regulated ecosytems for tokenized real-world assets (RWAs), with additional licenses from Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission.
Central to the partnership is the BENJI Technology Platform, Franklin Templeton’s proprietary blockchain infrastructure designed for tokenized investment strategies.
It enables the tokenization of US government securities that deliver continuous yield accrual, including intraday gains through a patent-pending mechanism.
These tokens stand out for their 24/7 transferability across permissioned wallets and near-instant settlement capabilities, offering advantages over conventional financial instruments bound by traditional settlement cycles.
Market conditions appear conducive for such digital tech innovations.
Data from 2025 shows tokenized RWAs on public blockchains expanding dramatically from roughly $5.5 billion to $18.6 billion, with U.S. government securities leading institutional adoption.
This growth reflects persistent challenges in digital markets, where substantial institutional capital often sits in non-yielding stablecoins or exchange balances, while legacy systems limit flexibility.
The BENJI-enabled products aim to resolve these frictions by functioning simultaneously as treasury tools, yield-generating assets, and usable collateral outside traditional exchanges.
Henry Zhang, Founder and Group CEO of DigiFT, emphasized the alignment of visions: institutional investors should access top-tier on-chain instruments through fully compliant channels.
Chetan Karkhanis, SVP of Digital Asset Partnership Development at Franklin Templeton, noted that the selection of partners like DigiFT underscores a commitment to long-term industry transformation rather than short-term gains.
The BENJI platform not only supports daily yield distribution—including on weekends and holidays—but also calculates accruals with remarkable precision at one-second intervals.
This level of sophistication opens up new pathways for advanced use cases in treasury management, payments, settlements, and collateral optimization for institutional players.
As the tokenized asset ecosystem evolves, partnerships like this one between Franklin Templeton and DigiFT signal a maturing ecosystem where regulatory credibility meets technological innovation. The collab is expected to evolve, potentially unlocking more opportunities for Asian institutions seeking efficient digital financial tools.