Updated:
Franklin Templeton Digital Holdings Trust
Franklin Templeton's blockchain fund holds Bitcoin and Ethereum for accredited investors, tracing a path from mutual-fund giant to on-chain operator.
Franklin Templeton Digital Holdings Trust
Franklin Templeton established the Digital Holdings Trust in 2021 as a private placement vehicle, seeded by the firm's own balance sheet and available to accredited investors through periodic subscriptions. The trust marks an evolution for the Franklin Resources subsidiary, which built its franchise on mutual funds and active fixed-income management, and now operates as one of the few trillion-dollar asset managers running a dedicated digital-asset custody and investment program. President and CEO Jenny Johnson has publicly positioned blockchain integration as a core strategic priority for the firm. The trust holds a concentrated portfolio of large-cap digital assets, primarily Bitcoin and Ethereum, functioning as a passive exposure vehicle rather than a venture-style or liquid-trading strategy. Franklin Templeton also issues the Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund (FOBXX), a registered fund that records share ownership on the Stellar and Polygon blockchains. The firm aggressively pursues registered digital-asset product filings in the U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF race, securing approval in January 2024 and launching EZBC with a competitive fee waiver. The trust, which predates the ETF, continues to serve qualified purchasers seeking private-fund exposure to the same underlying asset class. Head of Digital Assets Roger Bayston oversees the investment and product architecture for the trust, the ETF, and the broader blockchain initiative from the firm's San Mateo headquarters. Franklin Templeton reported $1.65 trillion in total AUM across all vehicles (per Franklin Resources, March 2024). The firm has invested in institutional-grade digital-asset custody infrastructure, developed a proprietary shareholder recordkeeping system on public blockchain rails, and participates actively in building tokenized capital-market frameworks with partners like the Stellar Development Foundation. Franklin Templeton's structural differentiator lies in its parallel pursuit of registered, publicly-traded digital-asset products and the underlying blockchain infrastructure to operate them. Unlike pure-play crypto-native firms, the trust draws on a global distribution network of institutional relationships built over seven decades, while the parent firm deploys engineering resources to run transfer-agency functions on permissionless ledgers. That dual-line model positions the trust inside a larger operational apparatus that few traditional asset managers can replicate.
General information
Firm type
Asset Manager
Year founded
2021
AUM
Under $500 million (Altss estimate)
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
San Mateo
Corporate office
San Mateo, CA, United States
Principals
Roger Bayston
Head of Digital Assets
Jenny Johnson
President and CEO, Franklin Resources, Inc.
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at Franklin Templeton Digital Holdings Trust?
Roger Bayston leads digital asset strategy for Franklin Templeton and is responsible for the trust's portfolio and product architecture. He reports into the broader Franklin Templeton executive structure led by President and CEO Jenny Johnson. Bayston coordinates investment policy, custody relationships and the blockchain engineering teams that support the trust and the firm's tokenized money-market fund.
Is the Digital Holdings Trust a registered fund or a private placement?
The trust operates as a private placement vehicle available to accredited and qualified purchasers, not a publicly-traded ETF. Franklin Templeton subsequently launched a spot Bitcoin ETF (ticker EZBC) in January 2024, which trades on the Cboe BZX Exchange. The trust continues to serve investors seeking exposure through a private fund structure.
What does the trust actually hold?
The trust primarily holds blue-chip digital assets, with Bitcoin and Ethereum as the core positions. It is designed for passive, benchmark-like exposure rather than active trading, venture-stage tokens, or illiquid private blockchain equity. The parent firm handles custody through its own institutional infrastructure and third-party providers.
How does Franklin Templeton's blockchain work differ from other asset managers?
Franklin Templeton operates a proprietary on-chain transfer-agency and shareholder recordkeeping system that runs on the Stellar and Polygon blockchains. The firm's OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund (FOBXX) was the first registered U.S. mutual fund to use a public blockchain for transaction processing and share ownership records. This means the trust sits inside an organization that has built and operates core capital-markets infrastructure on public ledgers.
Can non-U.S. investors access the trust?
Access is governed by the trust's offering documents, which typically limit participation to U.S. persons who meet accredited investor or qualified purchaser thresholds. Franklin Templeton distributes the trust through its U.S. wealth and institutional channels. Non-U.S. investors would generally need to meet local private-placement rules in their jurisdiction.
What fees does the trust charge?
Fee details for the private trust are disclosed in its offering memorandum and are not publicly reported in the same manner as the firm's registered products. For comparison, Franklin Templeton's spot Bitcoin ETF initially charged a 0.19% sponsor fee with a full waiver on the first $10 billion in assets through mid-2024 (per the firm's S-1 filing). The trust, as a privately offered vehicle, may carry different economics.
What is the relationship between the trust and the Franklin OnChain Money Fund?
Both vehicles report into Roger Bayston's digital assets division at Franklin Templeton, but they serve distinct functions. The OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund holds short-term Treasury securities and cash equivalents, using a blockchain for transaction settlement and share-record maintenance. The Digital Holdings Trust directly holds digital assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum. Together they represent the firm's two-track approach to integrating registered fund operations and crypto-asset investing on public ledger infrastructure.
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
Need institutional-grade insight on family offices?
Altss delivers:
Prefer a guided tour?
We’ll walk you through: