Franklin Templeton Gets Serious About Crypto, Buys 250 Digital and Pays in BENJI Tokens

Global asset manager Franklin Templeton is going all-in on crypto. The firm announced Wednesday it's launching Franklin Crypto—a dedicated crypto unit—following its acquisition of 250 Digital, a crypto investment firm and spinoff from CoinFund. That's right, the 250-year-old(ish) mutual fund giant just bought a crypto shop. Welcome to 2025, where your grandma's retirement fund is now on-chain.

The deal, expected to close in Q2, brings the entire 250 Digital team and their crypto strategies under the Franklin Templeton umbrella. The firm will invest in those strategies as part of the acquisition. They're not just hiring the team—they're adopting the whole playbook, strategies and all. Think of it as a corporate adoption, but instead of a golden retriever, it's a bunch of degens with Bloomberg terminals.

"Crypto's institutional moment has arrived, and Franklin Crypto will help our global clients navigate this complex and rapidly evolving asset class," said Christopher Perkins, who will lead the new division. Perkins previously ran 250 Digital alongside Seth Ginns, who joins as Chief Investment Officer of Franklin Crypto. Perkins is out here living the dream—going from "what's a wallet?" to running a whole crypto division at a trillion-dollar(ish) firm in what feels like a single market cycle.

"This is an exciting addition for Franklin Templeton," CEO Jenny Johnson said in a statement. "Together, their investment talent and differentiated strategies position us among a small group of global asset managers with a dedicated, institutional-grade crypto investment management team." Translation: BlackRock has their thing, Fidelity's got their thing, and