Franklin Templeton Creates Crypto Division After 250 Digital Deal

Franklin Templeton has officially closed its acquisition of crypto asset manager 250 Digital, a deal first announced in April that is designed to deepen the firm’s presence in actively managed cryptocurrency strategies.

The transaction brings 250 Digital’s investment team and crypto-focused approaches into a newly formed unit, Franklin Crypto. The division will be led by former 250 Digital executives Christopher Perkins and Seth Ginns, alongside Tony Pecore, Franklin Templeton’s executive for digital assets.

Key takeaways

• Franklin Templeton completed the acquisition of 250 Digital, closing a deal initially disclosed in April.
• The firm has created “Franklin Crypto,” combining 250 Digital’s team and strategies with Franklin Templeton’s institutional platform.
• Franklin Templeton did not reveal the purchase price or other financial terms of the transaction.
• The move follows earlier industry restructuring involving CoinFund’s spinout of liquid strategies into 250 Digital.
• Franklin Templeton’s tokenization initiatives have scaled quickly, with RWA.xyz reporting a multi-fold increase in its tokenized assets over the past year.

A deal built to expand active crypto management

According to the terms described at announcement, Franklin Templeton’s key objective is to strengthen its capability to deliver actively managed cryptocurrency strategies to institutional investors. The new division, Franklin Crypto, is positioned to blend the former 250 Digital team’s portfolio management work with Franklin Templeton’s broader distribution reach.

Franklin Templeton said the integration includes both the investment team and 250 Digital’s cryptocurrency strategies, which will be folded into the newly created structure. While the company did not disclose deal economics, the operational focus is clear: bringing more specialized crypto investing know-how under the umbrella of a larger, globally scaled asset manager.

Why 250 Digital matters—and how CoinFund’s earlier shift set the stage

The acquisition also reflects the evolving shape of specialty crypto investing firms. Earlier coverage from Cointelegraph noted that CoinFund decided earlier this year to spin out its liquid strategies business into 250 Digital as the firm sharpened its emphasis on venture investing.

That restructuring is important context for investors watching who is building where in the crypto asset management ecosystem. It suggests that 250 Digital’s core identity—managing liquid crypto strategies—was intentionally preserved and strengthened, making it a more direct fit for an established traditional asset manager seeking institutional-grade crypto exposure.

From crypto funds to tokenized products: Franklin Templeton’s multi-pronged push

Franklin Templeton’s acquisition arrives amid a broader expansion of its digital asset agenda, stretching beyond standalone crypto investing into tokenized financial products.

In February, Franklin Templeton announced a partnership with Binance that allows institutional investors to use tokenized money market fund shares as collateral for cryptocurrency trading. Under that framework, the tokenized fund shares remained in regulated custody, while their collateral value is reflected within Binance’s trading environment.

In March, the company partnered with Ondo Finance to offer tokenized exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on blockchain networks—an approach aimed at extending the reach of its investment products beyond traditional brokerage channels.

More recently, Franklin Templeton proposed two ETFs intended to reinvest stock dividends into Bitcoin-linked exposure, creating a hybrid strategy that bridges equities cashflows and digital-asset exposure. Earlier reporting from Cointelegraph covered that initiative as part of the firm’s ongoing experimentation with tokenized and crypto-linked investment wrappers.

Tokenization growth underscores the timing

The rationale for pairing a crypto acquisition with a tokenization push becomes more tangible when considering the scale and momentum reported by third-party data. RWA.xyz data shows Franklin Templeton’s tokenized assets have more than tripled over the past year, rising from about $768 million in June 2025 to more than $2.5 billion at the time of reporting.

RWA.xyz also indicates that the wider market for tokenized assets has grown quickly. It reports onchain RWA value increasing from roughly $11.8 billion to $32.2 billion over the same year-long period—evidence that demand for tokenized instruments and rails has been accelerating beyond any single issuer.

For Franklin Templeton, this matters because it places the firm at the intersection of two trends: institutional interest in actively managed crypto exposure and expanding infrastructure for tokenized finance. By adding a dedicated crypto division, the company is effectively attempting to serve investors with both strategy-based crypto allocations and tokenized structures that can sit closer to onchain trading and settlement workflows.

What investors should watch next

With Franklin Crypto now operational, the next key question is how quickly the firm translates the expanded team and strategy into scalable institutional offerings—and whether its crypto investing capabilities will be paired with its growing tokenized product lineup. Investors should also monitor how the unit’s activities evolve alongside ongoing ETF proposals and tokenization partnerships, as those steps can influence liquidity pathways, custody arrangements, and distribution reach.