Payward, the parent company of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, is working with major asset manager Franklin Templeton to develop tokenised financial products for institutional investors, CoinDesk reported on May 12.
Under the partnership, the two companies will develop blockchain-based investment products including tokenised yield products, tokenised stocks and digital-asset-linked custody services. They will also consider launching actively managed tokenised investment products that can be traded on-chain and accessed by institutional investors and, in some regions, Kraken retail users. Kraken plans to integrate Franklin Templeton's tokenised money market fund product lineup BENJI into its platform.
Besides Franklin Templeton, other financial firms such as BlackRock, Fidelity and JPMorgan have expanded blockchain financial products over the past 2 years, focusing on tokenised Treasury bonds and money market funds.
Tokenised Treasury bond funds offer returns based on government securities yields while operating on a blockchain, allowing institutions to move collateral around the clock without waiting for bank business hours or settlements that take days. They are considered one of the fastest-growing areas in digital assets.
Chi-gyu Hwang
delight@d-today.co.kr