Franklin Templeton Yolos Into Crypto Winter, Acquires CoinFund Spinoff to Launch Franklin Crypto

Franklin Templeton is going all-in on crypto, announcing plans to acquire 250 Digital, a spinoff of the crypto-native investment firm CoinFund. The deal will launch Franklin Crypto, a dedicated arm targeting institutional crypto investment management. Because nothing says "we believe in this market" quite like buying the dip during what folks are generously calling a "correction."

The asset manager plans to fold 250 Digital's liquid crypto investment strategies into the new unit. Christopher Perkins will lead Franklin Crypto, with Seth Ginns as chief investment officer and Tony Pecore handling operations alongside the Franklin Templeton digital assets team. It's like assembling the Avengers, but instead of saving the universe, they're saving your grandma's 401(k) from inflation.

The acquisition also includes BENJI tokens, which represent ownership shares in the Franklin OnChain US Government Money Fund (FOBXX), a regulated money market fund tokenized by Franklin Templeton in 2021. Yes, they tokenized a money market fund. No, this isn't a fever dream. It's 2025 and apparently everything is a token now.

The undisclosed transaction brings over the entire 250 Digital investment team and all liquid cryptocurrency strategies previously run by CoinFund. Franklin will also invest in those strategies as part of the agreement. The deal is expected to close in Q2 2026, pending definitive transaction agreements, client