Payward, the parent company of Kraken and developer of the xStocks tokenized equities framework, announced a strategic collaboration with Franklin Templeton to bring traditional financial products on-chain and expand their utility across digital asset markets.
The collaboration is designed to combine Franklin Templeton’s asset management and tokenization expertise with Payward’s crypto-native trading, custody, and blockchain infrastructure. The companies said the initiative will span tokenized equities, custody services, actively managed yield products, and institutional crypto liquidity through Kraken’s OTC and Prime offerings.
A major component of the collaboration centers on tokenization. Payward’s xStocks framework, which the company said has processed more than $30 billion in volume since launching in 2025, will explore introducing new actively managed investments onchain with Franklin Templeton. The companies also plan to launch tokenized yield-focused products for institutional investors and, where permitted, Kraken’s broader customer base.
The planned products are expected to provide professionally managed investment strategies with increased transparency, flexibility, and programmability through blockchain-based infrastructure.
Kraken also plans to integrate BENJI, Franklin Templeton’s suite of tokenized money market funds, across its platform to support institutional use cases focused on improving capital efficiency and utility in digital asset markets.
Franklin Templeton said it has been investing in blockchain innovation and digital asset capabilities since 2018, combining tokenomics research, data science, and technical expertise to develop blockchain-enabled financial products and services.
Payward said its platform currently serves clients in more than 190 countries and territories across crypto trading, derivatives, tokenized equities, staking, custody, and financial infrastructure services.
The announcement also noted that tokenized products will be created and distributed by Payward, while Franklin Templeton will manage related investment strategies without issuing or promoting tokenization platforms directly.
The companies acknowledged that blockchain infrastructure and tokenized financial products remain subject to operational, regulatory, pricing, settlement, and security risks, along with ongoing market volatility and evolving legal frameworks.
KEY QUOTES:
“Payward and Franklin Templeton are building toward a model of finance where the distinction between traditional assets and digital infrastructure no longer holds. The convergence between these two worlds is only going to deepen, and what collaborations like this one unlock is a new class of products that wouldn’t have been possible even three years ago: assets that carry the credibility of multi-decade managers and the programmability of digital infrastructure.”
Arjun Sethi
“The focus should be on making onchain assets more functional for the full range of market participants once they are there. By expanding the utility of BENJI and exploring new tokenized products, our work with Payward reflects the growing need to serve both digital-native and institutional customers with solutions built for how capital increasingly moves onchain.”
Sandy Kaul
