Franklin Templeton CEO Questions Tokenized Fund Models

Franklin Templeton CEO Jenny Johnson criticized rival tokenized fund models at TOKEN2049 Singapore, arguing that many remain digital twins of traditional products instead of utilizing blockchain as the primary recordkeeping layer, according to CryptoNews.

Speaking on a panel covering tokenized assets, liquidity, and onchain settlement alongside Binance Co-CEO Richard Teng and Canton Network CEO Yuval Rooz, Johnson contrasted Franklin Templeton’s BENJI products with rival offerings where ownership records remain in conventional systems while tokens mirror those positions onchain.

BENJI Structure and Platform Scale

Launched in 2021 through the Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund, or FOBXX, BENJI became the first U.S.-registered mutual fund to use a public blockchain as its official system of record. According to an August SEC staff letter, Franklin Templeton Investor Services maintains an internal system containing private shareholder information alongside blockchain records containing anonymous transaction data, connected in real time to form the official shareholder file while the registered transfer agent retains administrative controls.

Onchain data from RWA.xyz listed Franklin Templeton Benji Investments at approximately $2.60 billion in distributed asset value spread across four products as of October 8. The platform ranks second among tokenized U.S. Treasury fund platforms by distributed value.

Cost and Yield Comparisons

During her TOKEN2049 remarks, Johnson cited transaction processing costs, contrasting BENJI's reported onchain costs with traditional processing methods. However, an earlier explanation from Franklin Resources’ January 2026 earnings call noted that running roughly 50,000 transactions on Stellar cost approximately $1.13 in total, compared to roughly $1.50 per transaction on legacy systems. In addition, the firm launched its Intraday Yield feature in June 2025, calculating proportional yield down to the second when a tokenized security moves between investors.

Key facts

• Franklin Templeton CEO Jenny Johnson criticized rival tokenized funds at TOKEN2049 for functioning as digital twins.
• BENJI records fund ownership on public blockchains and supports intraday yield calculations down to the second.
• RWA.xyz listed Franklin Templeton Benji Investments at approximately $2.60 billion in distributed asset value across four products.
• FOBXX net assets were reported at $686.64 million as of August 31 according to conventional fund filings.