Franklin Templeton, Stellar Development Foundation Mark Five Years of BENJI, the First U.S.-Registered Tokenized Money Market Fund

• BENJI was the first U.S.-registered money market fund to use a public blockchain as its system of record
• BENJI is the only money market fund offering peer-to-peer transferability of shares and intraday yield*
• Since launch, BENJI has helped pioneer a tokenized fund category that has grown into a multi-billion-dollar market

SAN FRANCISCO – April 30, 2026 – Franklin Templeton and the Stellar Development Foundation today mark five years of the Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund (FOBXX), the first U.S.-registered mutual fund to use a public blockchain as its official system of record for processing transactions and recording share ownership. As legacy institutions now race to bring funds, treasuries, and securities onto the blockchain, Franklin Templeton and Stellar’s early conviction positioned them among the industry’s leaders in the space.

Represented by the BENJI token, the Fund launched in 2021 on the Stellar network, well before tokenization became a mainstream focus for global financial institutions. It has since become a blueprint for how regulated financial products operate onchain with greater speed, transparency, and programmability, and is now the second-largest tokenized real-world asset (RWA) on Stellar by value, representing over $650 million as of April 2026. ¹

BENJI’s leading capabilities include peer-to-peer (P2P) transferability of shares and daily onchain dividend distribution that runs 365 days a year, including weekends and holidays. The Fund also delivers intraday yield accrued by the second when tokens are transferred, along with 24/7 market access and near-instant settlement.¹ These features demonstrate the Fund’s utility and how blockchain can meaningfully improve the access and movement of capital in modern markets.

Demand from both retail and institutional investors has accelerated across the broader tokenization market. The number of BENJI investors grew by more than 140% from April 2024 to March 2026, with a sharp increase following the May 2025 expansion of P2P transfer functionality to retail holders. Cumulative P2P transfer volume has since surpassed $211 million as of March 31, 2026¹, and as of April 29, 2026, the BENJI suite represents $1.98 billion in AUM.¹

"In 2021, BENJI was the first of its kind, and five years later, it continues to set the standard for how this industry moves capital, delivers yield, and operates in-market," said Sandy Kaul, Head of Digital Assets and Innovation at Franklin Templeton. "Together with Stellar, we’ve accelerated tokenization into the mainstream and are focused more than ever on laying the foundation for a more modern financial system."

"BENJI is the clearest proof that blockchain belongs in everyday financial products," said Denelle Dixon, CEO of the Stellar Development Foundation. "In 2021, Franklin Templeton built the first onchain, regulated, yield-bearing instrument on Stellar and the rest of the industry has been racing to catch up ever since."

The five-year milestone follows BENJI’s recent capability expansion beyond fund investment. Franklin Templeton's pending acquisition of 250 Digital will incorporate BENJI tokens as payment consideration – one of the first uses of a tokenized fund in corporate acquisition settlement.

BENJI is powered by the Benji Technology Platform, Franklin Templeton’s proprietary blockchain-enabled recordkeeping and transfer agency infrastructure that supports tokenized investment products across retail and institutional channels. In 2024 the firm leveraged the Benji Technology Platform to launch the first fully tokenized UCITS fund in Luxembourg on Stellar, and launched the first retail tokenized fund in Singapore in 2025, also on Stellar. In the U.S., BENJI is available to retail investors through the Benji Investments mobile application on iOS and Android. Global institutions can access the platform through the Benji Institutional web portal.

Franklin Templeton is a pioneer in digital asset investing and blockchain innovation, combining tokenomics research, data science, and technical expertise to deliver cutting-edge solutions since 2018. Learn more at Franklin Templeton Digital Assets. 

For more information, please visit https://digitalassets.franklintempleton.com/benji/

About the Stellar Network

The Stellar network is an open and configurable blockchain built for financial products and services. It enables smart contracts and supports issuing, managing, and moving real-world regulated assets at an institutional scale. Assets can be fully decentralized or configured for KYC, clawbacks, and sanctions compliance. Financial institutions and innovators worldwide issue assets and settle payments on the Stellar network, which has processed billions of operations with millions of accounts since the network first launched in 2014.
 

About Franklin Templeton

Franklin Templeton is a trusted investment partner, delivering tailored solutions that align with clients’ strategic goals. With deep portfolio management expertise across public and private markets, we combine investment excellence with cutting-edge technology. Since our founding in 1947, we have empowered clients through strategic partnership, forward-looking insights, and continuous innovation – providing the tools and resources to navigate change and capture opportunity.

With $1.68 trillion in assets under management as of March 31, 2026, Franklin Templeton operates globally in more than 35 countries.

To learn more, visit franklintempleton.com and follow us on LinkedIn.

Franklin Resources, Inc. [NYSE: BEN]

###

* Intraday Yield Definition – proprietary feature that enables proportional calculation and distribution of yield, down to the second, when the BENJI tokenized security is transferred from one party to another. This means an investor can own a tokenized security for part of the day, transfer it to another investor, and still earn yield for the period they were a shareholder.

1. RWA.XYZ onchain wallet analytics – BENJI token AUM

Before investing, carefully consider a fund's investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. You can find this and other information in each prospectus, or summary prospectus, if available, at www.franklintempleton.com. Please read it carefully.

You could lose money by investing in the fund. Although the fund seeks to preserve the value of your investment at $1.00 per share, it cannot guarantee it will do so. An investment in the fund is not a bank account and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. The fund’s sponsor is not required to reimburse the fund for losses, and you should not expect that the sponsor will provide financial support to the fund at any time, including during periods of market stress. Although the fund invests in U.S. government obligations, an investment in the fund is neither insured nor guaranteed by the U.S. government.

All investments involve risk, including loss of principal. There are risks associated with the issuance, redemption, transfer, custody, and record keeping of shares maintained and recorded primarily on a blockchain. For example, shares that are issued using blockchain technology would be subject to risks, including the following: blockchain is a rapidly-evolving regulatory landscape, which might result in security, privacy or other regulatory concerns that could require changes to the way transactions in the shares are recorded. The fund's yield may be affected by changes in interest rates and changes in credit ratings. These and other risks are discussed in the fund’s prospectus.

Products, services and information may not be available in all jurisdictions and are offered by FT affiliates and/or their distributors as local legislation permits.

Franklin Distributors, LLC. Member FINRA, SIPC. Investment Products: NOT FDIC INSURED | NO BANK GUARANTEE | MAY LOSE VALUE.

Copyright © 2026. Franklin Templeton. All rights reserved.