Franklin Templeton is expanding its FOBXX money market fund, the second-largest of its kind on the market, to the Aptos blockchain.
The American investment management firm, known for its proactive approach towards cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology, recently reported that it is expanding its US government money market fund, known as Franklin OnChain US Government Money Fund (FOBXX), to the Aptos blockchain.
Franklin Templeton highlighted that this expansion makes its money market fund available to users on non-EVM chains, i.e. on networks that are not compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine, thus expanding accessibility to its fund in the blockchain ecosystem.
Experts also highlighted that the launch of FOBXX on Aptos not only represents an expansion of Franklin Templeton's financial product offering, but also strengthens the integration of blockchain technology into the realm of traditional finance.
FOBXX: A pioneering fund in tokenization
Franklin Templeton’s FOBXX money market fund, which was launched in 2021, has now positioned itself as the first and only of its kind, registered in the United States, that uses public blockchain technology to process transactions and to record share ownership.
Currently, according to data from Yahoo Finance, this fund has a capital of $435 million in assets under management, making it the second largest money market fund in terms of value. Each share of this fund is represented by a token called BENJI, native to the Benji Investments platform, ensuring more efficient and transparent management for investors.
Franklin Templeton selects Aptos for its focus on speed and security
FOBXX’s recent expansion to the Aptos blockchain was driven by the innovative features that define and distinguish this network in the blockchain ecosystem. Roger Bayston, Head of Digital Assets at Franklin Templeton, highlighted Aptos’ innovative design and its focus on transaction speed and security as some of the elements that influenced the firm’s recent decision.
Bayston also said that Aptos’ features align with the goals of the Benji platform. “Today’s announcement is an important milestone in our ongoing journey to unlock new asset management capabilities with blockchain technology,” he said.
Aptos was developed in 2022 with the aim of bridging the gap between decentralized finance (DeFi) and traditional financial institutions. The blockchain uses the Move programming language, allowing for faster and more secure transactions; features that meet Franklin Templeton's rigorous suitability standards.
On the other hand, the launch of FOBXX on Aptos follows the integration of this fund on other important blockchains in the digital ecosystem, such as Avalanche, Ethereum and Polygon. All this demonstrates Franklin Templeton's commitment to the evolution of its products in the cryptocurrency ecosystem.
An active explorer of the potential of blockchain and cryptocurrencies
FOBXX’s growing expansion into Aptos is opening the doors to new investors looking to diversify their portfolios using tokenized assets. Moreover, this move aligns with the firm’s vision on new technologies, which are considered essential to accelerate innovation in the financial space.
To date, Franklin Templeton has been delving into the potential of the underlying technology of cryptocurrencies, publishing several articles on projects such as Solana, Aave, MakerDAO, among others. The firm has also focused on analyzing the potential and challenges of DePIN networks and has invested in projects related to the crypto industry, such as Bitcoin's Layer2 solution, Bitlayer.
Franklin Templeton has also launched two cryptocurrency spot exchange-traded funds, based on Bitcoin and Ethereum, in the US market. All of this has highlighted the investment firm as a key player in the evolution of the financial ecosystem, which is offering its investors and clients new opportunities to manage their assets more efficiently and securely with crypto assets.
