Franklin Templeton, a leading investment manager with more than $1.4 trillion in assets, has expanded its tokenized US Treasuries Fund (Franklin OnChain US Government Money Fund (FOBXX)) to Aptos, a Layer-1 blockchain powered by the Move programming language.
FOBXX is a regulated fund dating from 1940 that invests at least 99.5% of its total assets in government bonds and other financial instruments backed by government bonds. Aptos is now the fifth blockchain to join the FOBXX fund, joining Avalanche, Arbitrum, Stellar and Polygon.
Market observers stated that this move marks an important development in the integration of traditional finance with decentralized networks. Franklin Templeton was one of several Wall Street giants to launch successful spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs this year.
Meanwhile, despite news of Franklin Templeton’s expansion, the Aptos APT token is down around 1% over the past 24 hours and was trading at $7.76 at the time of writing.
Why Aptos?
Roger Bayston, Head of Digital Assets at Franklin Templeton, explained that the company’s decision to expand into Aptos was based on its compatibility with its Benji blockchain-integrated system.
He reportedly said:
“We chose the Aptos Network because of its unique features, which meet our strict suitability standards for the Benji platform.”
Aptos has gained significant traction since its launch in October 2022, becoming one of the top 25 digital assets by market capitalization, according to CoinMarketCap data.
Notably, the blockchain network is also seeing significant usage, with the daily transaction volume of its users recently peaking at over 3 million. Moreover, according to DeFillama data, the platform also boasts a total value of over $545 million for DeFi activities.
About FOBXX
FOBXX is a digitalized fund that allows investors to invest money in US Treasury bonds, cash and repurchase agreements.
Launched in 2021, FOBXX became the first US registered mutual fund to adopt blockchain, initially using Stellar. The shares are tokenized and represented by the BENJI token, maintaining equal value.
Investors can purchase FOBXX shares and store them in digital wallets using Franklin Templeton’s Benji Investments mobile app.
Currently, the fund manages more than $435 million in assets, making it the second largest tokenized fund in the world, according to rwa.xyz.
Notably, the company has hinted at further launching its investment fund for the Solana blockchain.