Franklin Templeton’s Proprietary Blockchain-Integrated Record-Keeping System Benji Is Now on Crypto Exchange Coinbase’s Base

With the development, the Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund (FOBXX) – which invests at least 99.5% of its total assets in U.S. government securities, cash and repurchase agreements – can now be traded on the Ethereum (ETH) layer-2 chain.

Global investment firm Franklin Templeton has integrated its proprietary blockchain-based record-keeping system Benji with crypto exchange Coinbase's Base.

The development will allow the Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund (FOBXX) to be traded on the Ethereum (ETH) layer-2 chain. The fund invests at least 99.5% of its total assets in U.S. government securities, cash and repurchase agreements.

Franklin Templeton announced the expansion on social media platform X,

“New chain unlocked. Benji, our proprietary blockchain-integrated recordkeeping system, is now live on Base! With this announcement, Franklin Templeton is the first asset manager to build a tokenized fund on Base.”

FOBXX uses blockchain technology to process transactions and record ownership. The fund's transfer agent tracks share ownership using Benji, which leverages public blockchain networks for transaction activities.

Investors can use the Benji app to invest in the tokenized money fund. Notably, one share of the Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund is pegged to one BENJI token.

The fund was initially launched on layer-1 Ethereum competitor Avalanche (AVAX) in August. At the time, Roger Bayston, head of digital assets at Franklin Templeton, highlighted that bringing the fund to the network will expand access.

“We look forward to working with Avalanche’s vibrant developer community to bring new blockchain-enabled innovations into the market,” he said.

The fund is also available on XRP rival Stellar (XLM) network and layer-2 scaling solutions Arbitrum (ARB) and Polygon (MATIC).