Franklin Templeton is expanding its work with tokenization. The management company has agreed with Ondo Finance to issue tokenized versions of five exchange-traded funds related to stocks, bonds, and gold.
The speech is about products for an audience that prefers to work with investments through a digital wallet rather than through a traditional broker. For the market, this is another sign that large management companies are transitioning from individual tests to a broader introduction of familiar funds into the on-chain environment.
Five funds are entering a new form
The products planned for tokenization include funds with different profiles. Among them are the strategy on American growth stocks FFOG, the systematic fund on large companies FLQL, the gold fund FGDL, the high-yield corporate bond fund FLHY, and the strategy on American stocks with a focus on income INCE.
The operating model will remain familiar to the institutional market. Ondo will buy and hold the underlying shares of these funds, after which it will issue tokens through a special structure. Thus, the investor receives an on-chain instrument backed by a regular exchange-traded fund.
This is important for the market of tokenization itself. It is gradually moving away from the idea of a 'digital shell' for the sake of technology and transitioning to a model where the token becomes a new way to access an already existing financial product.
Tokenization makes funds available 24/7
The main difference between on-chain versions and regular ETFs is related to the trading mode. Such tokens will be able to trade around the clock, without being tied to standard stock market hours.
Moreover, they can be used within a broader decentralized finance environment. This means that the fund ceases to be just a tool for buying and holding through a brokerage account and gains additional use cases within the blockchain infrastructure.
Liquidity for these tokens will be supported by market makers Ondo. This is especially important during hours when the American equity and debt markets are closed. For users of digital assets, this format appears closer to the usual logic of the crypto market, where trading does not stop.
Franklin Templeton has long been preparing for this step
For Franklin Templeton, this is not the first move in tokenization. The company has been working in this direction since 2021. At that time, it launched the OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund, known as FOBXX or BENJI, which became the first registered mutual fund in the USA trading on a public blockchain.
Currently, BENJI is among the largest on-chain products in the US Treasury market. By assets under management, it ranks fourth among such solutions and exceeds $1 billion.
The new deal with Ondo means a broader entry into the segment. If earlier the tokenization of Franklin Templeton was primarily associated with the money market and Treasury securities, now the company is transferring an entire line of existing ETFs to the blockchain.
Ondo strengthens its position in the real assets segment
For Ondo, this deal also looks like a logical continuation of the strategy. The company has already taken a significant place in the sector of tokenized real assets and is building infrastructure that should connect traditional funds with digital wallets and on-chain liquidity.
Collaboration with Franklin Templeton significantly enhances this status. It is not about launching with a small issuer, but about working with one of the largest global managers, under whose control are about $1,7 trillion assets.
Against this backdrop, Ondo gains another important function in the market. The company becomes not only an issuer or infrastructure provider but also an intermediary between classic fund products and the crypto audience.
Wall Street is diving deeper into tokenization
The deal between Franklin Templeton and Ondo fits into a broader shift. Large management companies and brokers are increasingly moving real assets into the blockchain environment.
WisdomTree has already expanded its line of tokenized funds on Solana, in addition to Ethereum and Stellar. Robinhood, Coinbase, and Kraken are also working on releasing on-chain products, including tokenized stocks and funds.
This changes the very nature of the market. Just recently, tokenization looked like an experiment at the intersection of the crypto industry and traditional finance. Now it is becoming a way to repackage familiar instruments in an environment where calculations, ownership, and transfer of assets are built on different rules.
The geography of the launch is also important
At the first stage, the tokenized funds of Franklin Templeton will be available not in the USA, but in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, the Middle East, and Latin America.
This reflects the current regulatory logic of the market. American authorities continue to closely monitor on-chain securities and emphasize that such instruments remain within their control. Therefore, the international launch looks like a more convenient starting model.
For the market, this shows a simple thing. The technology is already ready for broader application, but the pace of adoption still depends on jurisdiction and product admission rules.
What’s next?
The new deal shows how the very idea of tokenization is changing. It is no longer about attempting to create a parallel market from scratch, but about transferring existing funds into a form that better suits a digital audience.
For Franklin Templeton, this is an expansion of the distribution channel and working with a new type of investor. For Ondo, this strengthens its role as an infrastructure partner in one of the fastest-growing segments of the real asset market.
For the entire industry, the signal is also clear. Tokenization is increasingly moving from the stage of individual examples to a phase where large funds, exchanges, and infrastructure companies begin to build a full-fledged market model around it.
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