Franklin Templeton has partnered with Hong Kong's HashKey Exchange to distribute its tokenized U.S. government money market fund across Asia, according to an announcement posted in August. The product, Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Liquidity Fund (grBENJI), invests primarily in U.S. government money market instruments and USD cash.
The partnership places the fund on HashKey Exchange's Earn Channel, giving Asian investors access to a tokenized vehicle that traditionally has been available to domestic U.S. buyers. Franklin Templeton has been among the earliest large asset managers to issue tokenized funds on public blockchains, launching its first on-chain government money market fund in 2021 and expanding the product line through subsequent years.
HashKey Exchange operates as one of Asia's licensed crypto trading platforms. The exchange received its money services license from Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission in 2023. HashKey hosts Franklin Templeton's tokenized fund alongside institutional-grade fixed-income exposure on its platform at a time when Asian demand for stablecoin-like instruments and low-volatility on-chain assets has risen alongside regional adoption of blockchain settlement infrastructure.
Franklin Templeton's tokenized money market funds have accumulated significant on-chain assets over the past two years. The firm has used the products to test blockchain settlement and custody for institutional-scale capital, moves that align with central bank digital currency pilots and private chain settlement experiments across Asia-Pacific.
The move places tokenized funds as distribution vehicles rather than experimental side projects. Franklin Templeton now operates these products through multiple regional exchanges, each configured for local regulatory frameworks and investor bases.
Franklin Templeton manages over $1.6 trillion in global assets under management. HashKey Exchange's decision to list the fund aligns with its strategy to partner with established financial institutions that can bring compliant on-chain products to the platform. Both parties benefit from increasing institutional interest in tokenized assets that offer regulatory clarity and connection to traditional money market infrastructure.
The number of major asset managers distributing tokenized funds has grown from two in 2021 to at least five by mid-2026, a 150 percent increase over the period. If HashKey does not report adoption metrics for the Franklin OnChain fund within 90 days of launch, visibility into Asian demand for tokenized fixed-income products will remain limited to on-chain analytics.
