Franklin Templeton has expanded its Benji tokenized collateral program to Bybit, allowing eligible institutional clients to pledge Benjiâissued money market fund shares as offâexchange collateral while keeping the underlying assets in custody and continuing to earn yield. The structure issues BENJI tokens at a strict oneâtoâone ratio with shares in the Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund (FOBXX), enabling clients to post tokens as collateral for USDT or USDC credit lines without transferring assets onto an exchange.
The Bybit move follows a similar arrangement launched with Binance in February, meaning two of the worldâs largest crypto exchanges now accept BENJI as offâexchange collateral. Franklin Templeton and Bybit also plan a tokenized investment product for Bybit wallet users and the Mantle network, though details remain undisclosed. Reported assets under management vary across sources: Benji was cited at $1.98 billion in April but RWA.xyz later reported about $669 million, while another piece notes Benjiâs tokenized offerings crossing $2 billion and Franklin Templetonâs broader AUM around $1.5 trillion.
The expansion comes with regulatory context: an August SEC noâaction letter permitted registered funds to use tokenized FOBXX and BENJI for cash and collateral management. Observers point to growing demand for tokenized money market funds â the BIS valued the market at more than $9 billion as of September 2025 â and note comparable products such as BlackRockâs BUIDL ($2.2 billion), which is accepted as collateral on other platforms. For Bybit, accepting regulated, yieldâbearing tokenized collateral is both a product offering and a credibility signal to institutional traders.