Franklin Templeton, one of the world’s largest traditional asset managers, has completed the acquisition of 250 Digital, a crypto investment firm that spun out of CoinFund earlier this year, and simultaneously launched a new institutional division called Franklin Crypto. The transaction, first announced in April, represents one of the most concrete moves by a legacy investment giant to build a dedicated digital-asset operation from within its own structure.
The deal signals a notable shift for a firm that has long been associated with conservative, long-term investing in stocks and bonds.
From Wall Street Brokerage to Crypto Institutional Hub
Franklin Templeton traces its roots to 1947, when it began as a small retail brokerage on Wall Street. Its founder named the company after Benjamin Franklin, reflecting the American values of thrift and prudence.
The firm’s early mutual funds were conservatively managed, designed for everyday investors, and for well over half a century it maintained a reputation for cautious growth. Over subsequent decades, Franklin Templeton grew from a single office into a global powerhouse. By the early 1990s, it had moved its headquarters from New York to California and acquired Templeton, Galbraith & Hansberger, a pioneering global investor. That acquisition created the name Franklin Templeton and cemented its position as a multinational investment holding company that now oversees funds and services for clients in roughly 150 countries.
Its public stock ticker, BEN, honors Benjamin Franklin. For most of its history, the firm focused on traditional asset classes — stocks and bonds — but this acquisition marks a significant turn: a dedicated crypto investment operation is now integrated into its institutional lineup.
Acquisition Details and Leadership
The acquired entity, 250 Digital, came into existence at the start of 2026 as a standalone carve-out from CoinFund Management. It brought with it a team experienced in liquid crypto strategies and institutional-grade portfolio construction. In practical terms, 250 Digital was already building crypto investment products aimed at large institutions and now operates with the full backing of a trillion-dollar asset manager.
Christopher Perkins, who led 250 Digital, will head Franklin Crypto. Seth Ginns, who served as the firm’s chief investment officer, carries that same title into the new division.
Both executives spent years at CoinFund before the spinout, giving them deep roots in the institutional digital-asset world. The new Franklin Crypto division is specifically designed for pensions, sovereign wealth funds, and other large asset allocators seeking exposure to digital assets through regulated structures. Its strategy spans liquid token markets, venture exposure, and structured products tied to blockchain infrastructure.
Tokenized Payment Marks a Milestone
One of the most striking aspects of the transaction is how it was paid for. Franklin Templeton used BENJI tokens — the on-chain representation of its Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund — as part of the acquisition consideration.
This makes the deal among the first major mergers-and-acquisitions transactions in financial services to be settled using tokenized assets. The practical consequence is that this is not merely an asset manager testing the crypto waters. Franklin Templeton has built an entire institutional division around digital assets, staffed it with veterans from a respected crypto investment firm, and used its own blockchain-based fund to help finance the deal.
For pensions and sovereign wealth funds that have been waiting for a regulated on-ramp to crypto, Franklin Crypto now offers a direct, established path. The move blends decades of traditional investment experience with the emerging world of cryptocurrency, and the result could reshape how large institutional investors allocate capital to this asset class.
