Franklin Templeton’s Bold Move: Is BlackRock Sweating Yet? 😅

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  • Franklin Templeton is like, “Hey Solana, let’s be besties!” and expands FOBXX to the blockchain party.
  • Institutional investment in Solana is booming—who knew decentralized finance could be this cool?

So, Franklin Templeton has decided to throw its tokenized money market fund, the Franklin OnChain US Government Money Fund (FOBXX), onto the Solana [SOL] blockchain. Because why not? Everyone loves a good blockchain party! 🎉

Franklin Templeton launches FOBXX

With a jaw-dropping $1.6 trillion in assets under management, they announced this move on February 12th, like it’s no big deal. Just building on FOBXX’s multi-chain strategy like a pro.

Originally launched in 2021, this fund has already made friends with Ethereum [ETH], Coinbase’s Base, Aptos [APT], and Avalanche [AVAX]. Stellar [XLM] is still the main squeeze, though.

As the third-largest tokenized money market fund, FOBXX is creeping up to a total asset value of $600 million. Talk about a glow-up! 💅

And let’s not forget, it’s the world’s first mutual fund to use blockchain tech for transaction processing and share ownership recording. Each share is represented by a BENJI token. Because who doesn’t want a token named BENJI?

Franklin Templeton took to X (formerly Twitter, because rebranding is all the rage) to announce:

“New chain unlocked. BENJI is now live on Solana! Solana is a fast, secure, and censorship-resistant Layer 1 blockchain encouraging global adoption via its open infrastructure.”

Solana’s growing traction

Let’s be real, institutional interest in Solana is skyrocketing, proving it’s more than just a playground for memecoins. Who knew? 🤷‍♀️

In Q3 2024, investments in decentralized applications built on SOL surged by 54%, hitting $173 million. Wealth managers and hedge funds are finally getting the memo!

The token itself has bounced back from the bear market lows of under $10 after FTX’s dramatic exit. It recently hit a 52-week high of $265.10, thanks in part to the buzz around former U.S. President Donald Trump’s memecoin launch. Because nothing says “serious investment” like a memecoin, right?

Solana is now the go-to platform for launching new tokens, especially in decentralized trading. A report from Pantera Capital revealed that SOL now accounts for over 90% of new tokens listed on decentralized exchanges. That’s a massive leap from just 1% at the end of 2023. Talk about a glow-up!

Cosmo Jiang and Eric Wallach summed it up perfectly in the same report:

“Even when innovation doesn’t start on Solana, it eventually finds its way there.”

BlackRock’s BUIDL vs. Franklin Templeton’s FOBXX

But wait, there’s drama! As Franklin Templeton strengthens its grip, it’s facing some serious competition from BlackRock’s BUIDL fund, which has zoomed past Franklin’s BENJI token in market cap, hitting $637 million. Yikes!

With tokenized treasury products now totaling $3.6 billion, the race for dominance in this emerging sector is heating up. It’s like the Hunger Games, but for finance!

Beyond its money market fund, Franklin Templeton is on a crypto expansion spree, launching Bitcoin [BTC] and Ethereum [ETH] ETFs while trying to get SEC approval for a Crypto Index ETF. Because why not throw everything at the wall and see what sticks?

Its latest move—a Delaware-based trust linked to a Solana ETF—just shows how serious they are about blockchain-based investment products. So, as institutions jump on the tokenized assets bandwagon, Franklin Templeton’s innovation might just shape the future of digital finance. Or at least make it a lot more interesting!

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2025-02-14 06:19