Franklin Templeton plans to acquire 250 Digital, an active cryptocurrency investment management firm spun out of venture firm CoinFund in January, creating a new division called Franklin Crypto. The deal will use BENJI tokens, shares of Franklin Templeton’s pioneering tokenized money market fund, as part of the acquisition consideration, in what appears to be amongst the first uses of tokenized fund shares in an M&A transaction.
The acquisition brings crypto industry veterans Christopher Perkins and Seth Ginns to the $1.7 trillion asset manager. Perkins, who will head the new Franklin Crypto division, spent 13 years at Citi where he rose to Global Co-Head of Futures, Clearing and FX Prime Brokerage before joining CoinFund as president in 2021. Ginns, who will serve as Chief Investment Officer, spent 17 years at Jennison Associates, PGIM’s growth equity arm, before joining CoinFund in January 2020 as Managing Partner and Head of Liquid Investments. Hence both bring a mix of crypto and TradFi experience.
The deal is expected to close in Q2 2026 and will include the investment team and all liquid cryptocurrency strategies previously run by CoinFund. Franklin Templeton will invest in the strategies as part of the agreement.
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