Franklin Templeton to Buy CoinFund Spinoff, Build Out Crypto Investment Offering

In brief

• Franklin Templeton is acquiring 250 Digital, a CoinFund spinoff, as it builds out its own crypto wing, Franklin Crypto.
• The firm is bringing the 250 Digital team on board as well as its crypto investment strategies, which it will invest in as part of the deal.
• It is using BENJI tokens, its on-chain money market fund, as payment considerations in the deal.

Global asset manager Franklin Templeton announced Wednesday it is forming a crypto unit—Frankling Crypto—following its acquisition of 250 Digital, a crypto investment firm and spinoff from CoinFund. The acquisition, expected to close during Q2, brings the 250 Digital team and all its crypto strategies to Franklin Templeton, which will invest in those strategies as part of the deal.  “Crypto’s institutional moment has arrived, and Franklin Crypto will help our global clients navigate this complex and rapidly evolving asset class by delivering the expertise, knowledge and digital asset products that meet their sophisticated investment needs,” Head of Franklin Crypto Christopher Perkins said in a statement. Perkins, who will join the firm and serve as the division leader of Franklin Crypto, previously led 250 Digital alongside Seth Ginns, who will come on board and serve as the Chief Investment Officer of Franklin Crypto.

 “This is an exciting addition for Franklin Templeton, and we’re pleased to welcome Chris, Seth and the 250 Digital team to our firm,” Franklin Templeton CEO Jenny Johnson in a statement. "Together, their investment talent and differentiated strategies strengthen our capabilities in digital assets and position us among a small group of global asset managers with a dedicated, institutional-grade crypto investment management team, enhancing our ability to serve clients worldwide,” she added.  While financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed, the firm noted that BENJI tokens—those representing its on-chain money market fund—will be used as payment considerations, “marking an important and innovative step toward conducting M&A transactions on chain.”

The firm first debuted the tokenized fund in 2021, before expanding its access to Ethereum in 2024. Since that time, it has also expanded to other popular blockchain networks like Solana, and Ethereum scaling networks like Base and Arbitrum.  Its latest crypto initiative comes just one week after it announced a deal with Ondo Finance to launch tokenized versions of five of its exchange-traded funds (ETFs).  A representative for Franklin Templeton did not immediately respond to _Decrypt’s _request for comment.