Global investment manager Franklin Templeton announced the launch of an institutional off‑exchange collateral program with Binance that lets clients use tokenized money market fund (MMF) shares to back trading activity while the underlying assets remain in regulated custody.
According to a Wednesday news release shared with Cointelegraph, the framework is intended to reduce counterparty risk by reflecting collateral balances inside Binance’s trading environment, rather than moving client assets onto the exchange.
Eligible institutions can pledge tokenized MMF shares issued via Franklin Templeton’s Benji Technology Platform as collateral for trading on Binance.
The tokenized fund shares are held off‑exchange by Ceffu Custody, a digital asset custodian licensed and supervised in Dubai, while their collateral value is mirrored on Binance to support trading positions.
Franklin Templeton said the model was designed to let institutions earn yield on regulated money market fund holdings while using the same assets to support digital asset trading, without giving up existing custody or regulatory protections.
Related: Franklin Templeton expands Benji tokenization platform to Canton Network
“Our off‑exchange collateral program is just that: letting clients easily put their assets to work in regulated custody while safely earning yield in new ways,” said Roger Bayston, head of digital assets at Franklin Templeton, in the release.
The initiative builds on a strategic collaboration between Binance and Franklin Templeton announced in 2025 to develop tokenization products that combine regulated fund structures with global trading infrastructure.
Off‑exchange collateral to cut counterparty risk
The design mirrors other tokenized real‑world asset collateral models in crypto markets. BlackRock’s BUIDL tokenized US Treasury fund, issued by Securitize, for example, is also accepted as trading collateral on Binance, as well as other platforms, including Crypto.com and Deribit.
That model allows institutional clients to post a low-volatility, yield‑bearing instrument instead of idle stablecoins or more volatile tokens.
Other issuers and venues, including WisdomTree’s WTGXX and Ondo’s OUSG, are exploring similar models, with tokenized bond and short‑term credit funds increasingly positioned as onchain collateral in both centralized and decentralized markets.
Related: WisdomTree’s USDW stablecoin to pay dividends on tokenized assets
Regulators flag cross‑border tokenization risks
Despite the trend of using tokenized MMFs as collateral, global regulators have warned that cross‑border tokenization structures can introduce new risks.
The International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) has cautioned that tokenized instruments used across multiple jurisdictions may exploit differences between national regimes and enable regulatory arbitrage if oversight and supervisory cooperation do not keep pace.
Cointelegraph asked Franklin Templeton how the tokenized MMF shares are regulated and protected and how the model was stress‑tested for extreme scenarios, but had not received a reply by publication.
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