Western Adds Tokenized MMF Class
A press release titled, "Franklin Templeton Prepares Institutional Money Market Funds for Tokenized Finance," and subtitled, "Franklin Templeton retrofits two Western Asset funds for GENIUS Act compliance and blockchain-based distribution," tells us, "Franklin Templeton ... announced that two institutional money market funds managed by its affiliate Western Asset Management are now eligible for use in two major segments of the evolving market for tokenized money market funds: one supporting stablecoin issuers in the regulated stablecoin reserves under the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act, and the other acting as a distribution product across blockchain-enabled platforms. These changes underscore Franklin Templeton's focus on leveraging blockchain-based technologies to enhance traditional investment vehicles." Matt Jones, Franklin Templeton's Head of Institutional Liquidity, comments, "The Western Asset Liquidity business has long focused on helping clients move forward without choosing between innovation and managing risk. Being early only matters if you do it responsibly, and these updates prove how we can help institutions adopt tokenized infrastructure with products they already know." The release explains, "The updates apply to two existing traditional Rule 2a-7 government money market funds and are intended for Western Asset Management to continue meeting the needs of its institutional clients and distribution partners as the market for delivery of digital products evolves. These changes will enable institutional investors to use both funds more effectively across two major applications: stable reserve management and blockchain-enabled intermediary distribution.... The Western Asset Institutional Treasury Obligations Fund has been updated to align with the reserve requirements of the GENIUS Act ... and now invests exclusively in U.S. Treasuries with maturities of 93 days or less. The change positions the fund to support stablecoin reserve management as institutional adoption accelerates. With the stablecoin market surpassing $310 billion in total supply and projecting to reach approximately 2 trillion by 2030, demand is growing for regulated, high-quality liquidity across digital payment, settlement, and collateral platforms." The release adds, "The Western Asset Institutional Treasury Reserves Fund introduced a new Digital Institutional Share Class ($DIGXX) designed for distribution through blockchain-enabled intermediary platforms. The update allows approved intermediaries to leverage blockchain technology for recording and transferring fund share ownership. This provides faster settlement, 24/7 transactions, and easier integration with digital collateral and cash management systems, while the fund itself remains a traditional, SEC-registered money market fund. As interest in tokenized funds grows, this approach reflects how asset managers are adapting fund distribution to meet institutional demand for regulated products that work within digital market infrastructure." For more on Tokenized MMFs, see these Crane Data News stories: "Boston Fed Paper Examines Vulnerabilities of MM ETFs, Tokenized MMFs" (1/7/26), "More from Irish Funds' Tokenization Paper; Decrypt Explains Stablecoins" (12/29/25), "JPMAM Liquidity Insight: Tokenization Transforming Money Market Funds" (12/24/25), "Amundi Tokenises Shares of EUR MMF" (12/22/25), "JP Morgan Launches Tokenized MMF, My OnChain Net Yield Fund (MONY)" (12/17/25), "Bank for International Settlements Primer on Tokenized Money Funds" (12/2/25), "TD Securities Writes on Stablecoins, Tokenized Money Funds, Digital" (11/5/25), "NY Fed Blog Says Money Funds Dominate Tokenization To Date; Stability?" (9/25/25), "IMMFA on Tokenization of MMFs in Europe; Tether USDT; Fidelity Digital" (9/22/25), and "BNY's LiquidityDirect Portal Announces Plans to Tokenize Money Funds" (7/24/25).
