Franklin Templeton CEO Says Blockchain Threatens Wall Street’s Traditional Profit Model

Franklin Templeton launched its tokenized money market fund Benji on Stellar in 2021, making it the first U.S.-registered mutual fund to use a public blockchain as its official system of record for transactions and shareholders. The model uses smart contracts to streamline settlement and compliance, directly challenging the traditional structure under which banks and custodians earn intermediary fees.

On June 3, 2026, Jenny Johnson, CEO of Franklin Templeton, which manages $1.74 trillion in assets, told the Proof of Talk summit in Paris that processing 50,000 transactions on legacy systems cost about $1.30 each, or roughly $65,000 in total. The total cost on Stellar was just $1.13. She expects asset management to move onchain more rapidly, though regulated custody services will still be needed.