Franklin Templeton will expand its crypto business by acquiring 250 Digital, a liquid-crypto strategies spinoff originally launched by CoinFund. When the deal closes it will form part of a new business unit called Franklin Crypto.
CoinFund had separated its liquid strategies earlier this year to concentrate more on venture investing. The undisclosed transaction transfers the 250 Digital investment team and all liquid cryptocurrency strategies that CoinFund previously ran to Franklin Templeton. As part of the agreement, Franklin will also allocate capital to those strategies.
Leadership for the new unit will include Christopher Perkins as head of Franklin Crypto, with Seth Ginns serving as chief investment officer and Tony Pecore, a Franklin Templeton digital-assets veteran, helping broaden the firm’s institutional crypto platform. The acquisition also brings BENJI tokens into Franklin’s fold; those tokens represent ownership interests in the Franklin OnChain US Government Money Fund (FOBXX), a tokenized, regulated money-market fund the firm launched in 2021.
The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2026, subject to definitive agreements, client consents and customary closing conditions. Franklin Templeton’s digital-assets arm manages roughly $1.8 billion and has been building a crypto presence since 2018; the firm was among asset managers that launched a US-listed spot Bitcoin ETF in 2024.
The deal arrives during a prolonged crypto downturn — Bitcoin was down about 45% from its October 2025 peak above $126,000 — but Franklin says the weaker market is attracting talent and opening opportunities to build long-term infrastructure. Sandy Kaul, the firm’s head of innovation, said the recent selloff created a distinctive opening that helped prompt the move.