Franklin Templeton and Binance have launched a live programme that allows institutional investors to use tokenized money market fund shares as collateral for cryptocurrency trading without placing those assets on an exchange, in what industry observers are calling a landmark step in bridging traditional finance with digital markets.
Announced on Wednesday, February 11, 2026, eligible clients can now pledge tokenized fund shares issued through Franklin Templeton’s Benji Technology Platform as off-exchange collateral when trading on Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume and registered users.
The structure solves a long-standing problem for large institutional players, who have historically been reluctant to deposit significant assets directly onto centralised exchanges due to counterparty and custodial risk. Under the new model, the underlying assets remain in regulated off-exchange custody, while their value is simultaneously mirrored within Binance’s trading environment, allowing institutions to support both spot and derivatives positions without surrendering custody of their holdings.
Critically, the money market fund shares continue earning yield even while deployed as collateral, giving institutions a capital-efficient alternative to parking cash or cryptocurrency directly on-exchange.
“Our off-exchange collateral programme is just that: letting clients easily put their assets to work in regulated custody while safely earning yield in new ways,” said Roger Bayston, Head of Digital Assets at Franklin Templeton. “That’s the future Benji was designed for, and working with partners like Binance allows us to deliver it at scale.”
Catherine Chen, Head of VIP and Institutional at Binance, said the programme reflected broader efforts to connect traditional and digital finance. “Innovating ways to use traditional financial instruments on-chain opens up new opportunities for investors and shows just how blockchain technology can make markets more efficient,” she said.
Custody and settlement infrastructure for the programme is provided by Ceffu, Binance’s institutional custody arm and a virtual asset custodian licensed and supervised in Dubai, under the entity Ceffu Custody FZE. The firm uses multi-party computation (MPC) technology and multi-approval schemes to manage institutional digital assets.
Ian Loh, Chief Executive Officer of Ceffu, said the programme demonstrated a workable path to institutional participation in digital markets without compromising risk controls. “Institutions increasingly require trading models that prioritise risk management without sacrificing capital efficiency,” he said.
The collaboration builds on a strategic partnership Franklin Templeton and Binance first announced in September 2025. Franklin Templeton, founded in 1947 and managing more than $1.7 trillion in assets as of January 31, 2026, has been active in digital assets since 2018.
The launch marks a signal moment for African institutional investors and asset managers as digital finance infrastructure expands deeper into emerging markets. Binance counts more than 300 million registered users across more than 100 countries, with a substantial and growing presence across Africa.
Both firms indicated plans to expand the programme’s scope, including adding further categories of tokenized real-world assets as eligible collateral.
