Blockchains Threaten Wall Street’s Fee Machine, Not Its Technology
Franklin Templeton CEO Jenny Johnson on the Impact of Public Blockchains on Financial Institutions
Franklin Templeton CEO Jenny Johnson recently shed light on why major financial institutions have been slow to adopt public blockchains, attributing it to the threat posed to their fee-based revenue streams by the technology.
Addressing the audience at the Proof of Talk summit in Paris, Johnson, who leads the management of $1.74 trillion in assets at Franklin Templeton, emphasized that the reluctance of traditional financial players towards blockchain is not rooted in skepticism towards the technology itself.
It is primarily driven by a desire to safeguard their existing business models. Banks and intermediaries that derive revenue from transaction fees at various stages of the settlement process face the risk of losing this income once smart contracts can perform the same functions at a significantly lower cost.
Johnson highlighted the cost disparity between traditional systems and blockchain technology using Franklin Templeton’s tokenized money market fund, Benji, as an example. Processing 50,000 transactions through the firm’s legacy system incurred a cost of $1.30 per transaction, whereas utilizing the Stellar blockchain reduced the cost to $1.13 per transaction, showcasing substantial savings at scale.
The revelation coincided with Franklin Templeton’s announcement of a strategic partnership with MoonPay, aimed at enabling institutional investors to seamlessly transition between stablecoins and the firm’s tokenized fund through an on-chain workflow.
Franklin Templeton’s Foray into Digital Assets
Franklin Templeton made waves in 2021 with the launch of Benji, the world’s first U.S.-registered mutual fund employing a public blockchain as its official transaction processing and share ownership recording system. The fund primarily invests in U.S. Treasury securities and leverages blockchain technology for operational efficiency rather than exposure to cryptocurrencies.
In the realm of bitcoin, Franklin Templeton introduced the Franklin Bitcoin ETF (ticker: EZBC), a passive investment vehicle exclusively holding bitcoin and cash to cater to investors seeking direct price exposure without the complexities of custody management.
The firm also offers a dynamic bitcoin/ethereum separately managed account product for investors seeking active allocation between the two leading digital assets.
In a groundbreaking move in April 2026, Franklin Templeton disclosed its acquisition of 250 Digital, a spinoff from crypto venture firm CoinFund, leading to the establishment of a new division named Franklin Crypto dedicated to implementing active cryptocurrency investment strategies at an institutional level.
The acquisition transaction itself marked a milestone as BENJI tokens were employed as part of the payment structure, making it one of the pioneering M&A deals executed on-chain. As of now, the firm’s digital assets division manages approximately $1.8 billion in assets.
