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Franklin XRP Trust
Franklin Templeton's Franklin XRP Trust offers regulated spot XRP exposure — one of Wall Street's first trillion-dollar managers to pursue an XRP ETF.
Franklin XRP Trust
Franklin Templeton, through its subsidiary Franklin Holdings LLC, established the Franklin XRP Trust as a Delaware statutory trust in 2021. President and CEO Jenny Johnson has steered the 1947-founded firm into digital assets more aggressively than most legacy peers, publicly describing blockchain technology as a transformative force for capital markets (per Fortune, 2024). While the firm manages roughly $1.6 trillion in total AUM, the XRP Trust represents a small but symbolically weighty carve-out dedicated to a single crypto-asset. The Trust seeks to track the performance of XRP, the native token of the XRP Ledger, a decentralized network designed for fast, low-cost cross-border payments and currency exchange. Franklin does not actively trade or hedge the trust's holdings; the vehicle operates with a passive, spot-based mandate. Shares are designed to trade on a national securities exchange, with the sponsor, Franklin Holdings LLC, handling administration and marketing. Unlike grantor trusts holding physical commodities, the digital asset trust structure creates a regulated wrapper intended to reduce operational and security friction for institutions and accredited investors. The Trust's custodian for XRP holdings is a qualified, regulated digital asset custodian, a detail critical to institutional underwriting of any crypto product. Franklin has integrated digital asset capabilities across its broader business, including a tokenized money market fund on the Stellar and Polygon blockchains. The firm's institutional digital assets unit, led by Roger Bayston, oversees the XRP Trust alongside other crypto products. As of early 2026, Franklin's 19b-4 filing and S-1 registration statement for the Franklin XRP ETF are under SEC review, marking ongoing engagement with regulators on altcoin-based exchange-traded products (public record, SEC EDGAR filings). What distinguishes the Franklin XRP Trust from peer crypto products is its sponsorship by a legacy, globally regulated asset manager with over $1.6 trillion in AUM. That scale and regulatory standing gives the Trust a degree of institutional credibility rare among single-asset digital vehicles. Franklin Templeton's hybrid business model — spanning mutual funds, ETFs, alternatives, and on-chain products — embeds the XRP Trust within a diversified registered investment company ecosystem, rather than a standalone crypto-native firm.
General information
Firm type
Asset Manager
Year founded
2021
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
San Mateo
Corporate office
San Mateo, CA, United States
Principals
Jenny Johnson
President and CEO, Franklin Templeton
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who oversees the Franklin XRP Trust?
Franklin Holdings LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Franklin Templeton, acts as the sponsor of the Trust. The firm's institutional digital assets division, led by Roger Bayston, manages the trust's operations. Jenny Johnson, Franklin Templeton's President and CEO since 2020, has driven the firm's broader push into blockchain and tokenized financial products.
What is the investment objective of the Trust?
The Trust passively tracks the spot price of XRP, the native asset of the XRP Ledger. It does not engage in active trading, lending, staking, or hedging of its holdings. Its purpose is to provide institutional and accredited investors with regulated, exchange-traded exposure to XRP without the complexities of directly buying and securing the digital asset.
Is the Franklin XRP Trust currently trading on an exchange?
As of the latest available public record, the Franklin XRP Trust has filed materials with the SEC to list shares on a national securities exchange but has not yet commenced trading. The vehicle's 19b-4 filing is under regulatory review. The Trust structure itself has existed since 2021, operating in preparation for a potential public listing.
How does Franklin Templeton custody the XRP held by the Trust?
The Trust holds its XRP with a qualified, regulated digital asset custodian, a standard institutional practice designed to segregate assets and reduce counterparty risk. Franklin has not publicly disclosed the identity of the custodian in the most recent filings. Custody arrangements are detailed in the Trust's public registration statement.
How does this fit into Franklin Templeton's broader digital asset strategy?
Franklin Templeton has pursued digital assets on multiple fronts simultaneously: a tokenized on-chain money market fund (the Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund), spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs, and now an XRP-focused trust. The firm sees blockchain rails as a path to operational efficiency and new investor access, rather than a speculative side bet. This multi-threaded approach makes it one of the most crypto-active major asset managers globally.
What are the operational risks specific to a single-asset XRP vehicle?
The Trust's value is tied entirely to the spot price of XRP, which historically exhibits higher volatility than major crypto assets like Bitcoin. Regulatory risk is significant: the SEC's ongoing posture toward altcoin-based exchange-traded products remains uncertain despite the XRP Trust's filings. Additionally, XRP Ledger network risk — including concentration of validators, protocol changes, and the evolving legal status of Ripple Labs, the ledger's primary developer — all bear on the Trust's long-term viability.
Can the Franklin XRP Trust be held in tax-advantaged accounts?
As a Delaware statutory trust structured for public listing, the Franklin XRP Trust's shares would likely be eligible for brokerage and retirement accounts like IRAs once publicly tradable. However, the specific tax treatment of digital asset trusts remains an evolving area. Investors should consult their own tax advisors, as the Trust may generate taxable events that differ from traditional commodity trusts.
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