Bitcoin Magazine

Franklin Templeton Closes 250 Digital Deal, Launches Institutional Crypto Division

Franklin Templeton has completed its acquisition of 250 Digital, the crypto investment firm spun out of CoinFund in January 2026, and used the closing to launch a new institutional business line called Franklin Crypto. 

The deal, first announced in April, marks one of the most concrete moves by a major legacy asset manager to build a dedicated crypto operation from within.

250 Digital came into existence at the start of 2026 as a standalone entity carved out of CoinFund Management, bringing with it a team built around liquid crypto strategies and institutional-grade portfolio construction. 

Christopher Perkins, who leads the firm, will now head Franklin Crypto. Seth Ginns, 250 Digital’s chief investment officer, will carry that title into the new division. Both spent years at CoinFund before the spinout and bring deep roots in the institutional digital asset world.

The new Franklin Crypto unit is aimed at pensions, sovereign wealth funds, and large asset allocators that want exposure to digital assets through regulated structures. Its strategy spans liquid token markets, venture exposure, and structured products tied to blockchain infrastructure.

One of the more striking details of the transaction is how it was paid. Franklin Templeton used BENJI tokens — the on-chain representation of its Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund — as part of the acquisition consideration. 

That makes this deal among the first major M&A transactions in financial services to be settled using tokenized fund shares rather than cash or conventional securities.

BENJI tokens give holders exposure to a regulated U.S. money market fund recorded on a public blockchain. Franklin Templeton has spent years building out that infrastructure, and using it as M&A currency signals that the firm views its tokenization stack as a live commercial tool, not a proof of concept.

Franklin Templeton’s long bet on bitcoin and digital assets

Franklin Templeton CEO Jenny Johnson has been direct about her view of blockchain’s threat to traditional finance — she has argued that blockchains put pressure on Wall Street’s fee structures, not just its technology. 

That posture runs through the firm’s recent moves: filing for a Bitcoin ETF years before institutional demand caught up, launching ETFs that reinvest stock dividends into Bitcoin, and now acquiring a crypto-native team to run an institutional operation at scale.

The 250 Digital acquisition is the most structural step yet. Rather than wrapping crypto exposure inside an ETF or a fund sleeve, Franklin Templeton is building a division with its own leadership, its own investment philosophy, and a mandate to go after the institutional market head-on.

With over $1.5 trillion in assets under management, Franklin Templeton’s full commitment to a dedicated crypto unit sends a signal to the rest of the asset management industry. The firm is not treating digital assets as a side product.

It is staffing, acquiring, and deploying capital as if crypto is a permanent fixture in institutional portfolios.

Source: BitcoinMagazine