The $1.7 trillion asset manager Franklin Templeton is bringing in another crypto team from CoinFund as it looks to expand its reach among institutional investors in crypto.
Franklin Templeton, the global asset manager with about $1.7 trillion under management, is buying 250 Digital, a crypto investing firm spun out of Brooklyn-based VC firm CoinFund.
The California-based asset manager said in a press release today that it will fold 250 Digital’s team into a new Franklin Crypto unit, building out its Franklin Templeton Digital Assets business, which already manages about $1.8 billion.
The deal size wasn’t disclosed, but Franklin said it expects the transaction to close in Q2 of 2026, subject to the “execution of definitive transaction agreements, client consents and other customary closing conditions.”
“Crypto’s institutional moment has arrived, and Franklin Crypto will help our global clients navigate this complex and rapidly evolving asset class by delivering the expertise, knowledge and digital asset products that meet their sophisticated investment needs,” said Christopher Perkins, managing partner and president of CoinFund, who will head the arm.
Franklin Templeton Uses BENJI for Deal Settlement
The move also leans on Franklin’s own blockchain products. The firm said part of the payment will come in BENJI tokens, which represent one share of the Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund, a money-market fund backed mainly by government securities, and recorded on-chain.
According to data from RWA.xyz, the fund, which was launched in 2021, now has about $1.02 billion in total assets.
Founded in 2015 as one of the early crypto-native investment firms, CoinFund later established 250 Digital as its liquid-strategies arm, built to trade and manage crypto markets more like public assets than venture bets.
