VeChain, a layer-1 blockchain for real-world applications, is partnering with $1.5 trillion asset manager Franklin Templeton to integrate the company’s BENJI platform for enterprise payments.
The move extends the reach of Franklin Templeton’s platform while providing businesses operating on VeChain another stablecoin option, according to a statement shared with Coinpectra.
Franklin Templeton’s BENJI platform permits tokenized access to the company’s Franklin Templeton OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund (FOBXX), an onchain US government money fund worth about $780 million. The fund invests in cash, government securities and collateralized repurchase agreements. One BENJI token is equivalent to one share in the fund, which the company tries to peg to $1.
As part of the move, infrastructure provider Bitgo will also join VeChain as a custody partner, while Keyrock, a crypto investment firm, will bring derivatives trading capabilities.
“The collaboration will strengthen Franklin Templeton’s distribution strategy, while giving enterprises and institutional investors engaging with VeChain a differentiated way to integrate tokenized money market funds into their payment and cash management options,” notes the statement.
VeChain claims that its dual-token structure enables predictable and low-cost operations, which are helpful for money-market funds like FOBXX.
Related: What is VeChain, and how does it work?
BENJI platform on other blockchains
According to RWA.xyz, the BENJI platform is available on at least seven blockchains: Stellar, Ethereum, Arbitrum, Base, Avalanche, Polygon and Aptos. It holds most of its market cap on Stellar, or $432 million at this writing.
Compared to other blockchains running Franklin Templeton's platform, VeChain has a relatively low total-value-locked at $1.7 million as of Wednesday. The seven-day volume of the decentralized exchanges (DEXs) was $36,221.
Some competitors to Franklin Templeton’s FOBXX fund are BlackRock’s BUIDL, which has a $2.4 billion market capitalization, and Ondo’s Short-Term US Government Bond Fund, which has a $709 million market cap. Among the three tokenized funds, FOBXX has the most holders, with 690 buying in, while the other two have less than 100 each.
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