Franklin Templeton Money Market Fund Launches on Polygon Blockchain

Polygon Labs

April 26, 2023

Franklin Templeton today announces that the Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund (FOBXX) (the “Fund”), the first U.S.-registered mutual fund to use a public blockchain to process transactions and record share ownership, is now supported on the Polygon blockchain.

Franklin Templeton continues to see operational efficiencies through use of a blockchain-integrated system, including increased security, faster transaction processing and reduced costs, benefiting Fund shareholders. The Fund’s transfer agent maintains the official record of share ownership via a proprietary blockchain-integrated system that utilizes blockchain technology for transaction activity.

“Extending the reach of the Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund to Polygon enables the Fund to be further compatible with the rest of the digital ecosystem, specifically through an Ethereum-based blockchain. This furthers our distribution reach through a Layer 2 (L2) blockchain that has a proven track record,” said Roger Bayston, Head of Digital Assets at Franklin Templeton.

Tapping into the scope and breadth of the Ethereum ecosystem opens up a world of possibilities for investors. The Fund offers a competitive yield and is a regulated 1940 Act fund that invests at least 99.5% of its total assets in government securities, cash and repurchase agreements collateralized fully by government securities or cash. The Fund’s investment goal is to provide investors with as high a level of current income as is consistent with the preservation of shareholders’ capital and liquidity and aims to maintain a stable $1.00 share price.

One share of the Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund is represented by one BENJI token. Token holders can gain exposure to the Fund in digital wallets through the Benji Investments app, available in mobile app stores.

"It’s amazing to have a legacy institution like Franklin Templeton bringing transparency, interoperability, and secure, democratized access to their financial instruments, all things afforded with Polygon," said Colin Butler, Global Head of Institutional Capital at Polygon Labs. "When we take a step back and look at these things less as blockchain products and more as benefits created by utilizing blockchain rails, we start to see the ‘why’. Tokenized assets are going to positively rewire the global financial system, and Franklin Templeton is at the forefront of this movement.”

“The Polygon blockchain ecosystem spans many L2, sidechains, and sovereign blockchains and our suite of Ethereum scalability solutions has seen significant adoption across DeFi, NFTs, and enterprises,” added Mr. Butler. “The Polygon blockchain also provides access to a $260 billion market — the approximate aggregate value of all ERC-20 (Ethereum-based) assets.”

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