Franklin Templeton, the global asset manager overseeing more than $1.7 trillion in assets, has completed its acquisition of 250 Digital and formally launched Franklin Crypto, a dedicated active digital-asset management division aimed at institutional investors.
The acquisition folds 250 Digital’s team and former CoinFund liquid crypto strategies into Franklin Templeton’s expanding institutional crypto platform, with 250 Digital veterans Christopher Perkins and Seth Ginns taking senior roles as head of Franklin Crypto and chief investment officer, respectively.
April agreement becomes a crypto unit
Franklin Templeton first announced the transaction in April as part of a push into active cryptocurrency management. Following the deal’s completion, 250 Digital has become the foundation of its new crypto division.
The new division brings together the former 250 Digital team’s crypto strategies with Franklin Templeton’s distribution network and existing digital-asset operations, including research, portfolio construction and institutional risk oversight.
Dividend-funded bitcoin ETFs widen the push
The launch comes as Franklin Templeton also seeks to broaden its crypto-linked products through two proposed ETFs filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The funds, named the Franklin U.S. Equity Bitcoin DRIP Index ETF and the Franklin U.S. Innovation Bitcoin DRIP Index ETF, would put most assets into U.S. equities while using dividends to build indirect Bitcoin exposure.
Each product is designed around a 95 Percent equity and 5 Percent Bitcoin structure, with dividends redirected toward Bitcoin ETFs and similar products, allowing investors to keep most of their allocation in traditional U.S. stocks while using dividend flows to gradually add Bitcoin-linked exposure.
The filings still require regulatory approval, but they show how large asset managers are increasingly testing products that blend conventional equity portfolios with digital-asset access.
Institutional crypto gets a bigger platform
The launch reflects Franklin Templeton’s view that digital assets are becoming a longer-term part of institutional investing rather than a short-term market trend.
By adding specialist crypto talent and established liquid strategies, Franklin Templeton is positioning the new division for institutions seeking managed exposure to crypto markets, with research, risk oversight and global distribution built into a larger asset-management platform.
