Franklin Templeton has partnered with Kraken’s parent company Payward to bring its investment products to market through crypto-native distribution channels for the first time.
The collaboration will see Franklin Templeton’s actively managed investment strategies made available on-chain through Payward’s xStocks tokenised equities framework, which has processed over $30 billion in volume since its 2025 launch.
Franklin Templeton is using the partnership to access a distribution channel it cannot reach through traditional intermediaries.
The partnership extends beyond distribution. Payward and Franklin Templeton are jointly developing a new suite of tokenised yield products designed specifically for on-chain markets, suggesting a longer-term structural commitment rather than a short-term channel experiment.
Kraken’s global user base spans more than 190 countries, giving the firm direct exposure to a digitally native investor audience that conventional fund distribution models are not built to serve.
Sandy Kaul, head of digital assets and innovation at Franklin Templeton, said the partnership reflects “the growing need to serve both digital-native and institutional customers with solutions built for how capital increasingly moves on-chain.”
The partnership represents a broader shift in traditional asset managers to establish distribution footholds in digital asset markets, treating crypto-native platforms as a legitimate channel rather than a peripheral one.
As more firms follow, the positioning, packaging and communication of investment products will need to adapt to an investor audience that conventional fund marketing was not built to reach.
Franklin Templeton’s $1.74 trillion AUM and Kraken’s presence across 190 countries give this deal a global footprint that most asset management partnerships don’t have.