Franklin Templeton’s tokenized fund on Stellar hits $1.1 billion milestone

Franklin Templeton, a leading US investment management firm, has reached a significant milestone in the digital asset space as the value of its real-world assets (RWA) on the Stellar (XLM) blockchain surpassed $1.1 billion. The achievement follows a recent net capital inflow of $200 million into the company’s tokenized money market fund, BENJI, on Stellar.

Institutional inflows and network rankings

A report from the RWA Foundation, referencing Token Terminal data, indicated an infrastructure-level gap between the volumes of institutional funds present on Stellar and those on the XRP Ledger (XRPL). Both networks have origins linked to blockchain pioneer Jed McCaleb, but recent trends have seen Stellar take the lead in tokenized fund adoption.

For Franklin Templeton, Stellar has become the firm’s second most significant network for digital asset operations, ranking only behind BNB Chain and surpassing the more established Ethereum in this context.

Franklin Templeton is known for integrating traditional investment products with blockchain infrastructure, offering tokenized money market funds to its clients.

The growth in institutional money flowing into Stellar underlines its emerging role among alternative blockchains specifically for the tokenization of real-world assets.

Stellar’s RWA liquidity leaders

Nearly all RWA liquidity on Stellar is concentrated within four major platforms. Spiko currently leads the sector, managing about half of the market’s funds with $2 billion in tokenized assets. Franklin Templeton’s BENJI fund holds a strong second position, while Ondo—supported by asset management giant BlackRock—and Realiz each handle close to $500 million in tokenized assets.

Comparison of main RWA platforms on Stellar:

Meanwhile, Franklin Templeton’s exposure to XRPL remains limited, with only the sgBENJI fund valued at $200 million on that chain. Stellar continues to show much broader adoption, boasting a tenfold increase in unique RWA token holders compared to XRPL, and recording monthly asset distribution volumes in the hundreds of millions of dollars, in contrast to XRPL’s $22 million.

Sudden inflow and reactions

Market observers noted a sudden overnight influx of $200 million into BENJI on Stellar, a move that surprised even experienced participants. Representatives from industry platform ZeusRWA, which analyzes real-world asset liquidity, explained that Franklin Templeton’s timing was unexpected.

Franklin Templeton decided to add another hundred million just as we were about to publish the report, ZeusRWA researchers commented.

Payment usage and future integrations

The disparity between Stellar and XRPL is especially clear in the stablecoin sector. While both blockchains host a similar number of stablecoins, usage differs sharply. On Stellar, stablecoins are mainly utilized for commercial payments, with the network processing $20.48 billion in monthly transactions. Meanwhile, on XRPL, stablecoins show a monthly payment volume of $9 million, suggesting they are largely held inactive on balances rather than circulated for real-world payments.

Recent momentum on Stellar is attributed to successful industry integrations. Chainlink, a major provider of price oracle services, is now active on Stellar. Looking ahead, joint ventures such as the partnership with the US central securities depository DTCC are set to open the door for traditional finance products to be launched directly on blockchain. This initiative is expected to materialize by the first half of 2027.

Mini dictionary: DTCC, the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation, is the central repository for securities transactions in the United States. It plays a foundational role in the country’s financial infrastructure, facilitating the clearing and settlement of securities trades.