Skip to content
Members Only Article

An Asset Manager’s Big, Bold Bet on Crypto

October 24, 2025 | 3 minutes reading time | By Michael Shari

Franklin Templeton is aiming for rapid growth, fueled by technology advancements and deregulation, as the asset class goes increasingly mainstream.

In a conversation with Franklin Templeton CEO Jenny Johnston in 2017, Roger Bayston, then senior vice president and Fixed Income Group director, encouraged her to “be attentive” to the term “distributed ledger technology.”

That’s blockchain for short, and because recordkeeping ledgers “are so pervasive inside of capital markets and asset management,” Bayston noted in an interview, “it felt like this was going to be something that was going to impact our business.” He urged Johnston to “explore that and be on the front side of whatever that impact might be.”

As time went on, Bayston – now executive vice president of digital assets – and his CEO observed the impact of blockchain and the growth of cryptocurrencies, stablecoins and tokenization. They saw in these developments ways of mitigating the risk of investing in a “less mature” and high-risk asset class. The result was a strategic decision to build infrastructure to support a suite of bitcoin exchange-traded funds and a tokenized money market fund.

As Bayston explains it, “we see these blockchain ecosystems as a big improvement” on the technology underpinng capital markets and...

to access this content.

Become a GARP Member to Unlock Exclusive Risk Insights and More!

  • Access timely articles, thought leadership, and an archive of on-demand webcasts, event recordings, and Chapter meeting presentations in our Member Multimedia Library.
  • Get regulatory capital data for global and regional banks in North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa through our Pillar 3+ data analytics platform from the GARP Benchmarking Initiative (GBI®).
  • Gain priority registration to attend any worldwide Chapter meeting for free, as well as preferential rates for GARP events and access to local members-only dinners and professional networking opportunities.
  • Receive comprehensive access via our digital GARP Learning platform to the latest curriculum readings, videos, end of chapter practice questions, and more for the program(s) of which you passed the exam(s).

Topics: Digital Assets, Investment Management

Share

Trending

Article Members Only

Blockchain for Collateral Management and Mobility: An Institutional Killer App?

August 29

A DeFi collateral transfer network “highlights the power of regulated ...

Digital Assets
Read Article
Article Members Only

An Asset Manager’s Big, Bold Bet on Crypto

October 24

Franklin Templeton is aiming for rapid growth, fueled by technology ad...

Digital Assets, Investment Management
Read Article
Article

The Unsettled Side of Stablecoins

September 19

A landmark U.S. law is only a start – toward fulfilling national digit...

Digital Assets, Regulation & Compliance
Read Article