Franklin Templeton Puts Tokenized Treasury Fund on HashKey for Asia’s Pros — BigGo Finance

Franklin Templeton is extending its tokenized money market fund to professional investors across Asia through a new distribution deal with Hong Kong-licensed crypto exchange HashKey, the companies said Monday.

The Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Liquidity Fund, known as grBENJI, went live on HashKey Exchange’s Earn platform on Aug. 24, giving eligible digital asset investors exposure to U.S. government money market instruments and dollar-denominated cash assets through blockchain-based infrastructure. Access in Hong Kong is restricted to professional investors and the product cannot be offered to the general public.

The arrangement gives Franklin Templeton, which manages $1.8 trillion in assets across more than 35 countries, another regulated distribution channel in Asia while adding a recognizable traditional finance product to HashKey’s institutional offerings.

“We are excited to launch our tokenized money market fund on the HashKey Exchange platform,” said Chetan Karkhanis, Franklin Templeton’s senior vice president of digital assets client engagement. He said blockchain technology provides investors with “enhanced transparency, security, accessibility, speed, and cost efficiency.”

HashKey Exchange BG CEO Haiyang Ru said the addition of grBENJI responds to institutional demand for compliant yield products backed by real-world assets. The exchange operates under Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission with Type 1 and Type 7 licenses, permitting it to trade securities on clients’ behalf and run automated trading services. It does not provide services to users in mainland China, the United States and certain other jurisdictions.

The partnership arrives as tokenized U.S. Treasury and money market funds have surged 1,500% to roughly $15 billion over the past two years, according to data provider RWA.xyz. The broader real-world asset tokenization market was valued at $38.2 billion as of Aug. 23, up from $20.6 billion a year earlier, with tokenized U.S. government debt accounting for $15.6 billion of that total.

Franklin Templeton and HashKey said they plan to expand beyond money market funds over time, using HashKey’s operations in Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo, Dubai and Bermuda as potential distribution points for additional tokenized products.

“We look forward to deepening this partnership by expanding beyond tokenized money market funds into other tokenized products over time,” Karkhanis said.

Building on Hong Kong’s Tokenization Push

The HashKey listing extends Franklin Templeton’s existing footprint in Hong Kong’s regulated digital asset market. In November 2025, the asset manager launched the Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund in the territory, marking Hong Kong’s first tokenized money market fund and the inaugural project under the Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s Fintech 2030 modernization strategy. That product, registered in Luxembourg, was launched with support from HSBC and digital asset platform OSL, and was available only to institutional and accredited investors.

At the time, Franklin Templeton’s APAC head Tariq Ahmad said the firm planned to pursue a version that could eventually be offered to retail investors, subject to approval from the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission.

HashKey has also been active in the tokenized securities space. In June 2025, HashKey Chain and GF Securities Hong Kong launched GF Token, an on-chain security for qualified investors distributed in part through HashKey Exchange. Last week, the exchange announced it would begin cross-border stablecoin transactions with the UAE and the wider Middle East using HKDAP, one of Hong Kong’s two regulated digital dollars.

Widening Distribution Routes

Franklin Templeton has been among the most active traditional asset managers in placing tokenized products inside crypto-native systems. In June, the firm added BENJI to MoonPay, allowing institutional users to swap stablecoins including USDC and USDT for the tokenized money market product through MoonPay Trade’s on-chain system. Days later, Franklin Templeton completed its acquisition of 250 Digital, creating a new Franklin Crypto division.

Through a separate partnership with Ondo Finance, the asset manager introduced tokenized ETFs covering U.S. equities, fixed income and gold for eligible non-U.S. investors across Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and Latin America. Franklin Templeton has also worked with Binance on an institutional collateral structure that lets clients use tokenized money market fund shares as collateral for crypto trading while keeping underlying assets with regulated custodians.

RWA.xyz data cited in the announcement showed Franklin Templeton’s tokenized assets had increased from about $768 million in June 2025 to more than $2.5 billion within a year, underscoring the firm’s rapid expansion in on-chain finance.

The HashKey collaboration reflects a broader convergence of traditional asset management and blockchain-based financial infrastructure in Asia, where regulators in several jurisdictions have moved to create clearer frameworks for digital asset products. That regulatory clarity has encouraged established finance firms to test tokenized offerings in the region rather than limiting distribution to the United States or Europe.

For HashKey, hosting a Franklin Templeton product adds credibility and may attract investors seeking regulated, lower-risk digital asset exposure. For Franklin Templeton, the partnership provides access to HashKey’s digital banking, wealth management and institutional client base without requiring separate local infrastructure in each market.

Note: HashKey Exchange holds Type 1 and Type 7 licenses under Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Ordinance, along with a license under the Anti-Money Laundering Ordinance. The grBENJI fund invests mainly in U.S. government money market products and U.S. dollar cash assets through blockchain infrastructure.