Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, is working with asset manager Franklin Templeton to expand the use of tokenized financial products to institutional investors.
The companies said on Tuesday that they will develop a range of blockchain-based investment offerings, including tokenized return products, tokenized stocks and custody services linked to digital assets.
The move comes as major financial firms explore testing tokenized versions of conventional assets. BlackRock, Fidelity and JPMorgan have all expanded blockchain-related financial products over the past two years, notably tokenized government bonds and money market funds.
Tokenization refers to representing traditional financial assets such as stocks, bonds or money market funds on blockchain networks where they can be traded and settled digitally. Proponents argue the approach could reduce settlement times, expand market access and allow assets to move more easily between financial platforms.
The collaboration joins two firms that have taken different paths to tokenized financing. Franklin Templeton has spent years building blockchain-based investment products. Payward has focused on crypto trading infrastructure through Kraken and its xStocks tokenized stock platform, which the company says has processed more than $30 billion in trading volume since its inception in 2025.
The firms plan to explore actively managed tokenized investment products that can be traded on the chain and become available to institutional investors and, in some jurisdictions, retail users of Kraken.
Kraken also plans to integrate BENJI, Franklin Templeton’s suite of tokenized money market funds, into its platform. The funds can serve as collateral or cash management tools for institutional trading clients seeking blockchain-based alternatives to traditional treasury operations.
Analysts consider tokenized treasury funds one of the fastest-growing sectors of digital assets because they offer returns tied to government securities while operating on blockchain rails. In practice, it can allow institutions to move collateral around the clock instead of waiting for banking hours or multi-day settlement periods.
Read more: Kraken parent Payward seeks fresh funding at $20 billion valuation ahead of planned IPO
