Franklin Templeton Forms Franklin Crypto Division Following 250 Digital Acquisition

Global asset manager Franklin Templeton has finalized its purchase of crypto asset manager 250 Digital, a transaction originally revealed in April, and folded the target's expertise into a standalone cryptocurrency investment arm named Franklin Crypto.

Franklin Templeton absorbs 250 Digital's team and strategies. The newly established unit incorporates 250 Digital's investment professionals and crypto-focused approaches. Christopher Perkins and Seth Ginns, previously with 250 Digital, will co-lead the division together with Franklin Templeton's digital assets executive Tony Pecore.

According to the firm, Franklin Crypto plans to deliver actively managed cryptocurrency strategies aimed at institutional clients by merging the acquired team's skills with Franklin Templeton's worldwide distribution platform. Financial details of the purchase were not disclosed.

The move builds on Franklin Templeton's existing digital asset business. The company already maintains a specialized group handling digital asset research, portfolio construction and institutional risk management. Franklin Templeton manages approximately $1.78 trillion in assets and operates in more than 35 countries.

The transaction comes after CoinFund spun out its liquid strategies into 250 Digital earlier this year, enabling the parent firm to concentrate more sharply on venture capital activities.

Franklin Templeton expands tokenized asset offerings amid market growth. The launch occurs while the manager's onchain product suite reportedly expanded from roughly $768 million to more than $2.5 billion over the past year. Data from RWA.xyz indicates these tokenized holdings more than tripled, climbing from about $768 million in June 2025 to more than $2.5 billion at present.

The overall tokenized asset sector has experienced similar expansion, with onchain real-world asset value increasing from about $11.8 billion to $32.2 billion during the same period.

Recent partnerships and proposals extend Franklin Templeton's crypto push. During February the firm entered a collaboration with Binance allowing institutional participants to post tokenized money market fund shares as collateral for cryptocurrency trades. Those tokenized shares stayed in regulated custody, with their collateral value mirrored inside Binance's trading infrastructure.

In March Franklin Templeton teamed with Ondo Finance to deliver tokenized exchange-traded funds directly on blockchain networks. Last week the manager filed proposals for two ETFs designed to reinvest equity dividends into Bitcoin-linked holdings.