Franklin Templeton Partners with Payward to Revolutionize Onchain Investment

Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, has made a significant move in the world of digital finance by partnering with Franklin Templeton to develop onchain investment products. The partnership, which was announced on May 12, 2026, brings together one of the largest asset managers in the world with one of the longest-running crypto exchanges.

The collaboration has three distinct prongs, each targeting a different slice of the tokenized finance opportunity. First, Franklin Templeton's BENJI suite of tokenized money market funds will be integrated directly into Kraken's platform, allowing institutional traders to park capital in tokenized money market funds without ever leaving the ecosystem.

The partnership also plans to co-design new tokenized yield products aimed at institutional clients, leveraging Franklin Templeton's expertise in structuring yield products and Payward's distribution capabilities. Additionally, Franklin Templeton will introduce actively managed strategies on Payward's xStocks framework, which has already seen significant traction with over $30 billion in volume.

The target audience for this partnership spans institutional clients and select retail users in jurisdictions where regulations permit. While the addressable market may be smaller than expected depending on regulatory responses in key markets like the US and EU, the collaboration has the potential to improve capital efficiency for institutional players and expand the reach of tokenized finance.