Franklin Templeton Expands $594M Market Money Fund to Solana

Franklin Templeton Expands $594M Market Money Fund to Solana

Franklin Templeton Expands Tokenized Money Market Fund to Solana Amid Growing Institutional Interest

Franklin Templeton has expanded its OnChain U.S. Government Money Market Fund (FOBXX) to Solana, marking another step in the fund’s growing presence across multiple blockchain networks. With a market capitalization of $594 million, FOBXX is currently the third-largest tokenized money market fund and was previously available on Ethereum, Coinbase’s Base, Aptos, and Avalanche. The Stellar network remains its primary blockchain.

The move reflects a rising trend of tokenization on Solana, which has gained significant traction despite Ethereum maintaining its dominance in the sector. Solana has increasingly become a hub for new token issuance, accounting for over 90% of all tokens appearing on decentralized exchanges (DEX), according to a report by Pantera Capital.

"Even when innovation doesn’t start on Solana, it eventually finds its way there," noted Pantera analysts Cosmo Jiang and Eric Wallach.

Institutional Adoption of Tokenization Accelerates

FOBXX, launched in 2021, trails behind Hashnote’s Short Duration Yield Coin (USYC) and BlackRock’s USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL) in market capitalization. However, its expansion to Solana signals a broader trend of traditional financial institutions leveraging blockchain for asset tokenization.

Tokenization—the process of bringing traditional financial assets like bonds, commodities, and investment funds onto the blockchain—is gaining momentum as institutions seek faster settlements, increased transparency, and more efficient operations. Industry reports from BCG, McKinsey, and Brevan Howard estimate tokenization as a multi-trillion-dollar market opportunity.

Solana Gains Ground in Tokenization

Ethereum currently leads the tokenization ecosystem with a 52% market share, representing $3.8 billion in tokenized real-world assets, followed by Ethereum layer-2 ZKsync Era, according to rwa.xyz data. Solana, with $135 million in tokenized assets, ranks seventh but has been gaining interest from institutional players.

Franklin Templeton’s decision to add Solana comes on the heels of real-world asset platform Securitize bringing its offerings, including BlackRock’s BUIDL fund, to the network in late January. Meanwhile, hedge fund SkyBridge founder Anthony Scaramucci recently praised Solana for its speed and efficiency, predicting that it will "win the race" in the tokenization sector.

As more financial institutions explore blockchain-based asset management, Solana’s rapid growth suggests it could play a key role in the future of tokenized finance.