Franklin Templeton Digital Assets Research Hub

The Agentic Internet and the open protocols enabling autonomous agents to communicate, access tools/data, and transact across platforms is going to radically change how people interact with the web. Adoption is already underway at major clouds and model labs — and represents the next frontier of enterprise automation and digital commerce.

Curious how publicly traded companies are reshaping crypto investing? Discover the bold new corporate crypto treasury strategy, where firms are raising billions to hold Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana on their balance sheets—pioneered by MicroStrategy and now a $17B movement since 2024. Read on to explore this high-stakes shift in institutional crypto adoption.

Traditional intercompany payment processes using money market funds can be tedious and time-consuming. Learn more about how tokenized money market funds offer the potential for more efficient and faster transactions.

Bitcoin’s decentralized nature and immunity to tariffs have enabled it to outperform other assets during recent market volatility caused by tariffs. Read more:

The Agentic Internet and the open protocols enabling autonomous agents to communicate, access tools/data, and transact across platforms is going to radically change how people interact with the web. Adoption is already underway at major clouds and model labs — and represents the next frontier of enterprise automation and digital commerce.

Curious how publicly traded companies are reshaping crypto investing? Discover the bold new corporate crypto treasury strategy, where firms are raising billions to hold Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana on their balance sheets—pioneered by MicroStrategy and now a $17B movement since 2024. Read on to explore this high-stakes shift in institutional crypto adoption.

Traditional intercompany payment processes using money market funds can be tedious and time-consuming. Learn more about how tokenized money market funds offer the potential for more efficient and faster transactions.

Bitcoin’s decentralized nature and immunity to tariffs have enabled it to outperform other assets during recent market volatility caused by tariffs. Read more:

Since Liberation Day there has been a shift in bitcoin's trading patterns, with Asia-centric capital treating it as a gold-like hedge against trade war uncertainty, while U.S.-centric capital continues to view it as a risk-on asset, especially since Trump's tariff escalation on China.

Although Bitcoin is often compared to "digital gold," its historical price behavior shows only a modest correlation with gold and a much stronger correlation with the Nasdaq in recent years. Learn more:

Today, investors have multiple avenues to gain exposure to cryptocurrencies, most notably buying spot-crypto via self-custody on a crypto exchange or through a spot-crypto based ETP. Each route to crypto ownership has different features, which largely come down to your preferences for control versus convenience.

On September 7th, 2021, El Salvador became the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender, aiming to address economic challenges, attract foreign investments, and foster innovation. This initiative, led by President Nayib Bukele, sought to help the underbanked, diversify the economy, and reduce dependency on the U.S. dollar. Learn more here:

Despite Solana's DeFi protocols becoming some of the most utilized and highest earning in the blockchain space post-FTX fallout, their valuation multiples remain surprisingly low compared to Ethereum's, highlighting intriguing discrepancies worth exploring. Learn more here:

Bitcoin has recently reached a new all-time high, and with a pro-crypto administration in office, some investors might wonder if they've missed the initial investment opportunity. Read more about the current investment case for Bitcoin:

In recent months, AI agents, initially created by developers as sophisticated software entities designed to perform tasks autonomously using artificial intelligence, have gained significant attention in the cryptocurrency space, creating a boom in innovation and experimentation. Learn more about how these AI agents have been interacting in the crypto space:

Ethereum is in many ways similar to a company with business revenues, expenses and profits. Ethereum’s native token – Ether (ETH) – may be attractive to own for their potential investment performance and diversification potential versus traditional assets.

The internet experience and greater economy will be re-created by Artificial Intelligence (AI). The Foundational AI models powering this revolution can be closed and owned by a few entities; or they can be open and owned by thousands or millions. Learn more about what role Decentralized Networks might play into this:

The debate over value accrual in distributed networks is a hot topic, with one side arguing that value primarily accrues to the protocols, while the other side believes it accrues to the applications built on top of them. This research piece dives into the history of Web2 and the unique aspects of crypto-based economies to uncover how value really flows in these systems:

The cryptocurrency community continuously debates whether staking rewards should be considered a cost to the network, complicated by differing definitions of "cost”. This research piece aims to clarify our perspective on the matter:

Decentralized finance (DeFi) lending protocols use blockchain technology and smart contracts to enable direct, automated transactions between lenders and borrowers, bypassing traditional banks. Learn more about this hot topic in the cryptocurrency world:

Restaking remains a hot topic in the world of Cryptocurrency. Discover how EigenLayer, a pioneer in this space, operates:

AI and blockchain technology are two of the most transformative technologies today. Discover their individual impacts and the incredible potential if they join forces:

Zero Knowledge Proofs have emerged as a pivotal solution for preserving confidentiality on public blockchain networks. Learn more about the evolution:

The Franklin Templeton Digital Asset team, Escape Velocity and Harvard Business School explore decentralization as a catalyst for disruption in cloud services:

Curious about how DePIN networks are reshaping industries like mapping and telecommunications? Read more here:

This article examines Bitcoin layers – a decentralized financial system for decentralized money:

Ethereum’s extensive developer community and its leading role in sectors like decentralized finance, non-fungible tokens and gaming highlight its significant impact on the decentralized digital economy and its position at the forefront of Web3 innovation:

The Franklin Templeton Digital Asset team believes cryptocurrencies are much more than the misconceptions that often surround them and as the asset class matures, investors need to move beyond myths and evaluate cryptocurrencies with a nuanced, informed perspective:

This article examines the advantages of Ethereum as a protocol economy and how one could gain exposure to this breakthrough technology asset:

Learn how technological advances have shifted economic dynamics over different eras, and why the protocol economy may represent the most meaningful evolution yet:

Staking is a constant topic in the world of crypto, learn more why an investor may stake their crypto assets:

Base, one of the most adopted Layer 2’s on Ethereum has seen a significant rise in activity over the past several months, learn more here:

Solana has positioned itself well capture the next wave of crypto adoption, learn more about the catalysts to Solana’s accelerated adoption here:

In this issue of Disruptive Technology Views, we explore the advantages of public blockchains versus the disadvantages of private blockchains and outline the benefits of decentralized finance over traditional finance as they relate to the security lending markets:

Bitcoin has been at the forefront of the blockchain revolution, changing how investors perceive and hold their assets. This article explores the investment case for bitcoin, focusing on its main facets as a digital commodity and proxy to capture the beta of the emerging protocol economy. Furthermore, it delves into why now might be an opportune time to invest in bitcoin:

Runes, the new Fungible Token Standard on Bitcoin was released on April 20th, 2024, with the goal of improving the BRC-20 fungible token standards. We are excited to see what Runes will do for Bitcoin’s fungible token market. Learn more here:

Token airdrops remain a popular mechanism for crypto projects to launch awareness and adoption. Analyzing the performance of several airdropped tokens against Bitcoin tells a fascinating story. Learn more here: 

Recently launched EigenLayer is a new protocol built on Ethereum which introduces a new way for users to restake their tokens. Learn more about how this new protocol has made a pivotal change across the Ethereum blockchain:

Bitcoin Ordinals (Non-Fungible Tokens) have seen a surge in trading volume over the past several months. Learn more about Ordinals and why there has been an increase in activity:

Token airdrops continue to make headlines in the crypto ecosystem. Learn more about what they are and Tensor, a highly anticipated airdrop:

Stacks a Layer 2 protocol introduced a solution to a major problem on the Bitcoin blockchain. Learn more about this new upgrade and how it unleashes Bitcoin’s full potential:

Although they have no real value or utility, we believe meme coins have a strong relationship with their native networks. Learn more here:

Dencun introduced a solution to the major obstacle faced on the Ethereum blockchain. Learn more about this new upgrade and how it led to a transformative shift for the Ethereum blockchain:

Learn more about the opportunity offered by the introduction of spot bitcoin ETFs. This paper will explore the investment thesis that we see supporting an allocation to bitcoin as well as model the asset’s performance quantitatively to help investors understand how including bitcoin in a portfolio may affect their investments:

The Bitcoin Halving is an event that occurs roughly every 4 years, where newly minted Bitcoin used to pay miners for verifying and confirming the validity of blocks gets cut in half. Learn more here:

The purpose of this paper is to give non-technical and non-crypto investors an understanding of proofs technology:

Years-to-Profitability (YTP) serves as a crucial metric in evaluating the profitability and sustainability of layer 1 (L1) blockchains:

This primer will provide an overview of Web3 and emerging digital assets, and related terms and technology. Its aim is to equip the reader with the foundational understanding necessary to appreciate the potential impact on the future of the financial industry, and also on economies and society more widely:

In this issue of Disruptive Technology Views, we examine how the Web3 ecosystem can turn transactions into multi-dimensional investment opportunities and discuss a recent real-world example involving NFTs:

Despite Solana's DeFi protocols becoming some of the most utilized and highest earning in the blockchain space post-FTX fallout, their valuation multiples remain surprisingly low compared to Ethereum's, highlighting intriguing discrepancies worth exploring. Learn more here:

Ethereum is in many ways similar to a company with business revenues, expenses and profits. Ethereum’s native token – Ether (ETH) – may be attractive to own for their potential investment performance and diversification potential versus traditional assets.

Restaking remains a hot topic in the world of Cryptocurrency. Discover how EigenLayer, a pioneer in this space, operates:

Ethereum’s extensive developer community and its leading role in sectors like decentralized finance, non-fungible tokens and gaming highlight its significant impact on the decentralized digital economy and its position at the forefront of Web3 innovation:

This article examines the advantages of Ethereum as a protocol economy and how one could gain exposure to this breakthrough technology asset:

Recently launched EigenLayer is a new protocol built on Ethereum which introduces a new way for users to restake their tokens. Learn more about how this new protocol has made a pivotal change across the Ethereum blockchain:

Dencun introduced a solution to the major obstacle faced on the Ethereum blockchain. Learn more about this new upgrade and how it led to a transformative shift for the Ethereum blockchain:

Bitcoin’s decentralized nature and immunity to tariffs have enabled it to outperform other assets during recent market volatility caused by tariffs. Read more:

Since Liberation Day there has been a shift in bitcoin's trading patterns, with Asia-centric capital treating it as a gold-like hedge against trade war uncertainty, while U.S.-centric capital continues to view it as a risk-on asset, especially since Trump's tariff escalation on China.

Although Bitcoin is often compared to "digital gold," its historical price behavior shows only a modest correlation with gold and a much stronger correlation with the Nasdaq in recent years. Learn more:

On September 7th, 2021, El Salvador became the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender, aiming to address economic challenges, attract foreign investments, and foster innovation. This initiative, led by President Nayib Bukele, sought to help the underbanked, diversify the economy, and reduce dependency on the U.S. dollar. Learn more here:

Bitcoin has recently reached a new all-time high, and with a pro-crypto administration in office, some investors might wonder if they've missed the initial investment opportunity. Read more about the current investment case for Bitcoin:

This article examines Bitcoin layers – a decentralized financial system for decentralized money:

Bitcoin has been at the forefront of the blockchain revolution, changing how investors perceive and hold their assets. This article explores the investment case for bitcoin, focusing on its main facets as a digital commodity and proxy to capture the beta of the emerging protocol economy. Furthermore, it delves into why now might be an opportune time to invest in bitcoin:

Runes, the new Fungible Token Standard on Bitcoin was released on April 20th, 2024, with the goal of improving the BRC-20 fungible token standards. We are excited to see what Runes will do for Bitcoin’s fungible token market. Learn more here:

Bitcoin Ordinals (Non-Fungible Tokens) have seen a surge in trading volume over the past several months. Learn more about Ordinals and why there has been an increase in activity:

Stacks a Layer 2 protocol introduced a solution to a major problem on the Bitcoin blockchain. Learn more about this new upgrade and how it unleashes Bitcoin’s full potential:

Learn more about the opportunity offered by the introduction of spot bitcoin ETFs. This paper will explore the investment thesis that we see supporting an allocation to bitcoin as well as model the asset’s performance quantitatively to help investors understand how including bitcoin in a portfolio may affect their investments:

The Bitcoin Halving is an event that occurs roughly every 4 years, where newly minted Bitcoin used to pay miners for verifying and confirming the validity of blocks gets cut in half. Learn more here:

Despite Solana's DeFi protocols becoming some of the most utilized and highest earning in the blockchain space post-FTX fallout, their valuation multiples remain surprisingly low compared to Ethereum's, highlighting intriguing discrepancies worth exploring. Learn more here:

The Franklin Templeton Digital Asset team, Escape Velocity and Harvard Business School explore decentralization as a catalyst for disruption in cloud services:

Base, one of the most adopted Layer 2’s on Ethereum has seen a significant rise in activity over the past several months, learn more here:

Solana has positioned itself well capture the next wave of crypto adoption, learn more about the catalysts to Solana’s accelerated adoption here:

Curious how publicly traded companies are reshaping crypto investing? Discover the bold new corporate crypto treasury strategy, where firms are raising billions to hold Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana on their balance sheets—pioneered by MicroStrategy and now a $17B movement since 2024. Read on to explore this high-stakes shift in institutional crypto adoption.

Traditional intercompany payment processes using money market funds can be tedious and time-consuming. Learn more about how tokenized money market funds offer the potential for more efficient and faster transactions.

In recent months, AI agents, initially created by developers as sophisticated software entities designed to perform tasks autonomously using artificial intelligence, have gained significant attention in the cryptocurrency space, creating a boom in innovation and experimentation. Learn more about how these AI agents have been interacting in the crypto space:

The internet experience and greater economy will be re-created by Artificial Intelligence (AI). The Foundational AI models powering this revolution can be closed and owned by a few entities; or they can be open and owned by thousands or millions. Learn more about what role Decentralized Networks might play into this:

The debate over value accrual in distributed networks is a hot topic, with one side arguing that value primarily accrues to the protocols, while the other side believes it accrues to the applications built on top of them. This research piece dives into the history of Web2 and the unique aspects of crypto-based economies to uncover how value really flows in these systems:

The cryptocurrency community continuously debates whether staking rewards should be considered a cost to the network, complicated by differing definitions of "cost”. This research piece aims to clarify our perspective on the matter:

Decentralized finance (DeFi) lending protocols use blockchain technology and smart contracts to enable direct, automated transactions between lenders and borrowers, bypassing traditional banks. Learn more about this hot topic in the cryptocurrency world:

AI and blockchain technology are two of the most transformative technologies today. Discover their individual impacts and the incredible potential if they join forces:

Zero Knowledge Proofs have emerged as a pivotal solution for preserving confidentiality on public blockchain networks. Learn more about the evolution:

Curious about how DePIN networks are reshaping industries like mapping and telecommunications? Read more here:

Staking is a constant topic in the world of crypto, learn more why an investor may stake their crypto assets:

Token airdrops continue to make headlines in the crypto ecosystem. Learn more about what they are and Tensor, a highly anticipated airdrop:

Although they have no real value or utility, we believe meme coins have a strong relationship with their native networks. Learn more here:

Years-to-Profitability (YTP) serves as a crucial metric in evaluating the profitability and sustainability of layer 1 (L1) blockchains:

Token airdrops remain a popular mechanism for crypto projects to launch awareness and adoption. Analyzing the performance of several airdropped tokens against Bitcoin tells a fascinating story. Learn more here: 

Today, investors have multiple avenues to gain exposure to cryptocurrencies, most notably buying spot-crypto via self-custody on a crypto exchange or through a spot-crypto based ETP. Each route to crypto ownership has different features, which largely come down to your preferences for control versus convenience.

The Franklin Templeton Digital Asset team believes cryptocurrencies are much more than the misconceptions that often surround them and as the asset class matures, investors need to move beyond myths and evaluate cryptocurrencies with a nuanced, informed perspective:

Learn how technological advances have shifted economic dynamics over different eras, and why the protocol economy may represent the most meaningful evolution yet:

In this issue of Disruptive Technology Views, we explore the advantages of public blockchains versus the disadvantages of private blockchains and outline the benefits of decentralized finance over traditional finance as they relate to the security lending markets:

The purpose of this paper is to give non-technical and non-crypto investors an understanding of proofs technology:

This primer will provide an overview of Web3 and emerging digital assets, and related terms and technology. Its aim is to equip the reader with the foundational understanding necessary to appreciate the potential impact on the future of the financial industry, and also on economies and society more widely:

In this issue of Disruptive Technology Views, we examine how the Web3 ecosystem can turn transactions into multi-dimensional investment opportunities and discuss a recent real-world example involving NFTs: