Franklin Templeton has agreed to acquire 250 Digital, a cryptocurrency investment firm spun out of CoinFund, as the global asset manager deepens its push into digital assets and seeks to broaden its offerings for large institutional investors.
The deal will also create a new unit, Franklin Crypto, which will house the firm’s liquid crypto strategies and expand its digital asset investment management business, according to an announcement.
The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2026, subject to definitive agreements, client consents and other customary conditions. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Franklin Templeton said the acquisition would include the 250 Digital investment team and the liquid cryptocurrency strategies previously run by CoinFund, and that it would invest in those strategies as part of the agreement.
Following the acquisition, Christopher Perkins will lead Franklin Crypto, while Seth Ginns will become chief investment officer.
The pair will work alongside Franklin Templeton digital assets investment veteran Tony Pecore, with the new division reporting to Sandy Kaul, the firm’s head of innovation.
Franklin said the unit would target institutional demand for crypto investment products, including from pensions, sovereign wealth funds and other large allocators looking for more structured exposure to the asset class.
The acquisition underscores how traditional asset managers are continuing to build out crypto capabilities even after the sharp swings that have periodically hit digital asset markets.
Franklin Templeton said its digital assets platform managed about $1.8 billion globally as of Dec. 31, 2025, while the broader firm had more than $1.7 trillion in assets under management as of early 2026.
Reuters reported the deal as part of a wider wave of institutional expansion into crypto products and infrastructure.
One of the more unusual elements of the transaction is that it will incorporate BENJI tokens as part of the payment consideration, marking what Franklin described as a step toward conducting mergers and acquisitions on-chain.
BENJI is tied to the Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund, also known as FOBXX, which the firm says was the first U.S.-registered mutual fund to use blockchain-integrated technology to process transactions and record ownership.
The move also builds on Franklin Templeton’s broader tokenization strategy.
In February, the company and Binance expanded an institutional off-exchange collateral program that allows eligible clients to use tokenized money market fund shares issued through Franklin’s Benji platform as collateral for trading on Binance, while the assets remain in regulated custody.
Franklin has said such structures are intended to improve capital efficiency and reduce counterparty risk for institutional clients.
Franklin Crypto is expected to focus on developing digital asset investment services for institutions as established financial firms increasingly try to bridge traditional portfolio management with blockchain-based infrastructure.
The acquisition gives Franklin Templeton a more dedicated crypto investment management platform at a time when large firms are competing to offer both tokenized products and specialist strategies to professional investors.
