Franklin Templeton Expands Institutional Cash Funds Into Tokenised Markets

• Franklin Templeton updated two Western Asset money market funds to align with the GENIUS Act, qualifying them for use in regulated US stablecoin reserves.
• The Treasury Obligations Fund now exclusively holds short-term US Treasuries (93 days or less), meeting strict new federal safety standards for backing stablecoins.
• The Treasury Reserves Fund added a digital share class, allowing intermediaries to use blockchain rails for 24/7 settlement and digital collateral management.

Franklin Templeton announced that two institutional money market funds managed by Western Asset Management are now eligible for use in regulated stablecoin reserves under the GENIUS Act and for distribution across blockchain-enabled platforms.

The updates apply to funds run by its affiliate Western Asset Management. One, the Western Asset Institutional Treasury Obligations Fund, was restructured to meet reserve standards set under the US GENIUS Act, signed into law last July. The fund now holds only US Treasuries maturing in 93 days or less, aligning it with requirements for assets used to back regulated stablecoins.

The Western Asset Liquidity business has long focused on helping clients move forward without choosing between innovation and managing risk. Being early only matters if you do it responsibly, and these updates prove how we can help institutions adopt tokenized infrastructure with products they already know.

Matt Jones, Franklin Templeton’s Head of Institutional Liquidity.

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Adding Blockchain to Money Markets

The second, the Western Asset Institutional Treasury Reserves Fund, added a digital institutional share class that lets approved intermediaries record and transfer ownership using blockchain infrastructure. 

Franklin Templeton added the fund remains a conventional money market product, but the new “rails” are designed to support quicker settlement, integration with digital collateral and cash-management systems, and 24/7 transfer and settlement.

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Franklin Templeton positioned the changes as a way for institutions to adopt onchain infrastructure using established cash products rather than launching new crypto-native funds. 

The move follows similar efforts by large financial firms, including JPMorgan’s launch of a tokenised money-market fund on Ethereum last month, as Crypto News Australia reported.

The post Franklin Templeton Expands Institutional Cash Funds Into Tokenised Markets appeared first on Crypto News Australia.