Franklin Templeton launches the OnChain U.S. Government Money Market Fund (FOBXX) on Solana

U.S.-based asset management firm Franklin Templeton has added Solana to its list of blockchains supporting the trading of its OnChain Money Market Fund (FOBXX). This recent development signals the growing interest in the Solana blockchain from tokenization issuers.

Global asset management firm Franklin Templeton has expanded its half-a-billion money market fund on the Solana blockchain to support its on-chain activities. The fund is already available on other blockchain networks such as Ethereum, Aptos, Base, and Avalanche which it added last year. 

Franklin Templeton expands on Solana to support trading of its money market fund

Franklin Templeton announced the new development on Wednesday, stating that it intends to leverage Solana’s speed, security, and censorship-resistant network for on-chain operations.

New chain unlocked. BENJI is now live on @solana!

Solana is a fast, secure and censorship resistant Layer 1 blockchain encouraging global adoption via its open infrastructure.

Download the Benji app here: https://t.co/ITah6qMtns
Read more: https://t.co/4j3TDC9VHM pic.twitter.com/3aiODzkK3T

— Franklin Templeton Digital Assets (@FTDA_US) February 12, 2025

The asset management firm’s expansion to Solana signifies the growing interest in the blockchain among tokenization issuers. The blockchain is home to decentralized trading activities and the launch of new blockchain projects (mostly memecoins). 

According to a Pantera Capital report, the blockchain now commands a 90% market share on all new tokens launching on decentralized exchanges. A report by Cosmo Jiang and Eric Wallach highlighted that innovation originating outside Solana always finds its way into the network. 

Although Solana’s recent growth in the tokenization niche is significant, Ethereum still reigns supreme as the most popular smart contracting network. Ethereum leads the tokenization ecosystem with a 52% market share, which is equivalent to $3.8 billion in tokenized real-world assets. Ethereum layer-2 ZKsync Era follows the layer 1 blockchain, while Solana ranks seventh with tokenized real-world assets worth $135 million.

Franklin Templeton FOBXX ranks third among tokenized money market funds

Franklin Templeton’s OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund FOBXX launched in 2021. Data from the tokenization tracking platform rwa.xyz shows that the fund has amassed a market capitalization of $594 million, making it the third-largest tokenized money market fund. 

The fund trails behind Hashnote’s Short Duration Yield Coin (USYC), which has a market cap of $1.156 billion, and BlackRock’s USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL), which has a market cap of $636.8 million as of this publication. Ondo’s U.S. Dollar Yield and Ondo Short Term U.S. Government Bond Fund follow in fourth and fifth positions with $382 million and $267 million market caps, respectively.

Tokenized treasuries have a combined market capitalization of $3.6 billion and a weighted average yield-to-maturity rate of 4.07%. Tokenization is also growing significantly. Reports from BCG, McKinsey, and Brevan Howard predict that the sector will grow to a trillion-dollar market cap. The tokenization sector has the potential to link traditional finance derivatives such as bonds, commodities, and funds into the blockchain infrastructure for more efficient operations and faster settlement.

Solana continues to attract more tokenization issuers 

Franklin Templeton’s extension to the Solana ecosystem is the latest sign of increasing interest in the network for tokenization activities. Securitize Real-world’s asset platform expanded its offerings, such as BUIDL, to the Solana network in late January. 

Head of Institutional Growth at the Solana Foundation, Nick Ducoff, acknowledged Securitize’s expansion on Solana. The executive said that the expansion marked a major milestone in bringing institutional-grade financial products on-chain. He also explained that the expansion unlocks new opportunities for investors globally.

In an interview, Anthony Scaramucci, the founder and managing partner of hedge fund SkyBridge Capital, touted Solana’s speed and efficiency, saying that it will “win the race” in the tokenization world. Scaramucci highlighted that SkyBridge Capital owns both Ethereum and Solana. However, the official explained that the fund owns ETH in “small sizes” and is much bigger on Solana. 

Scaramucci expressed his belief that if the tokenization of stocks and bonds continues to expand, Solana could outperform Ethereum because of its advantages over the latter network. 

Cryptopolitan Academy: Are You Making These Web3 Resume Mistakes? - Find Out Here