On June 22, Franklin Templeton finalized the acquisition of 250 Digital, officially establishing Franklin Crypto as a dedicated division for actively managed crypto strategies targeting institutional investors. The new entity is led by Christopher Perkins, formerly of Citibank for 13 years, alongside Chief Investment Officer Seth Ginns, who began his career at Credit Suisse. Together with Tony Pecore from the existing digital assets team, they report directly to Sandy Kaul, the head of innovation. This strategic move incorporates the full investment team of 250 Digital and integrates liquidity crypto strategies previously operated by CoinFund, with Franklin Templeton committing capital to these specific vehicles. Data compiled by Woofun AI shows that by the end of 2025, the digital assets division managed approximately $1.8 billion, a figure representing a strategic pivot within a broader portfolio totaling $1.78 trillion as of May 2026.

The firm's trajectory in the sector dates back to 2018, when it assembled a digital assets team exceeding 50 professionals focused on blockchain R&D, strategy formulation, and node validation. A pivotal milestone occurred in 2021 with the launch of the Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund (BENJI), the first registered U.S. mutual fund utilizing a public blockchain for transaction processing and share ownership recording. According to rwa.xyz data, BENJI currently holds approximately $831 million in assets across 1,114 holders, delivering an annualized seven-day return of 3.5%. This foundational success paved the way for a diversified product line including spot ETFs, marking a significant expansion beyond tokenized funds.

In January 2024, the Bitcoin spot ETF (EZBC) received approval, accumulating net assets of roughly $368 million by June 21, 2026. The Ethereum spot ETF (EZET) followed in July of the same year, reaching net assets of approximately $34.62 million. Expansion accelerated in 2025 with the introduction of the crypto index ETF (EZPZ) in February, initially tracking BTC and ETH before broadening to include ADA, LINK, DOGE, SOL, XLM, and XRP by December. As of June 21, 2026, EZPZ held net assets of approximately $12.43 million.

Concurrently, the XRP spot ETF (XRPZ) launched in November with net assets of roughly $252 million, positioning it as the second-largest crypto ETF in the firm's lineup. Woofun AI notes that the Solana spot ETF (SOEZ), launched in December with a staking feature, held approximately 112,900 SOL coins, with about 99.81% actively staked, reflecting a net asset value of $8.19 million.

Entering 2026, the firm submitted an application to the SEC in June for two Bitcoin DRIP ETFs designed to automatically reinvest stock dividends into BTC. The proposed structure allocates 95% to U.S. broad market stocks and 5% to BTC, with a hard cap limiting BTC exposure to no more than 20% of the total portfolio. These products are projected to launch by September at the earliest. The current product ecosystem now spans three distinct categories: tokenized funds like BENJI, a suite of passive ETFs including EZBC, EZET, XRPZ, SOEZ, and EZPZ, and the newly formed actively managed strategies under Franklin Crypto, all targeting pension funds and sovereign wealth funds.

Beyond product launches, Franklin Templeton has deepened its ecosystem integration through strategic investments and partnerships. In 2025, the firm participated in financing for Ethena, a decentralized protocol operating the synthetic dollar stablecoin USDe, and invested in Crossmint, a provider of crypto API infrastructure for NFTs and wallets. On the public chain front, the company established a partnership with Aptos, launching BENJI on the Aptos network in 2025, while also maintaining reported partnerships within the Sui ecosystem. Woofun AI analysis suggests these collaborations signal a shift from passive observation to active infrastructure participation, distinguishing the firm's approach from pure trading strategies.

In contrast, Fidelity Investments has pursued a divergent path, initiating BTC and blockchain research in 2014 and establishing Fidelity Digital Assets in 2018 to build proprietary custody and trading infrastructure. As of mid-June 2026, Fidelity's Bitcoin spot ETF (FBTC) commanded over $11 billion in assets, significantly outpacing Franklin Templeton's comparable offerings. Fidelity also launched the Ethereum-based stablecoin FIDD in early 2026, with a circulating supply of approximately 62.6 million coins, while managing total assets of roughly $7 trillion as of the first quarter of 2026. Despite differing methodologies, both giants exemplify the accelerating trend of traditional asset managers embedding crypto capabilities into their core operations.