Franklin Templeton, one of the world’s largest asset managers with US$1.4 trillion under management, said Wednesday that its OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund is now supported on the Polygon network, allowing investors access into the Ethereum blockchain, the world’s biggest after Bitcoin.
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Fast facts
- “Extending the reach of the [fund] to Polygon enables the Fund to be further compatible with the rest of the digital ecosystem, specifically through an Ethereum-based blockchain,” said Roger Bayston, Head of Digital Assets at Franklin Templeton.
- Templeton’s Nasdaq-listed mutual fund is the first U.S. registered fund to use a public blockchain to process transactions and record share ownership and has over US$270 million under management, according to the announcement.
- To match its goal to provide stable income to holders, the fund invests more than 99% of its assets in government securities, cash and repurchase agreements, according to its description.
- One share of the fund is represented by one BENJI token, where token holders have access to the fund in digital wallets through the Benji Investments app, which Franklin operates.
- Franklin Templeton says integrating blockchain into its system offers “operational efficiencies” such as increased security, faster transaction processing and reduced costs.
- On Monday, Stellar, an open-source platform for currency payments, said the Templeton fund is also available on its network.
- The move follows those by other traditional finance companies incorporating blockchain technology to their offerings. Last September, Charles Schwab, Citadel Securities, Fidelity Digital Assets and other Wall Street mainstays created the digital asset exchange, EDX Markets.
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