Roger Bayston, Head of Digital Assets at Franklin Templeton, said the firm’s collaboration with Binance enables institutions to use tokenized money-market fund shares as trading collateral while keeping assets in third-party custody, merging traditional finance with digital assets at scale.
“Since partnering in 2025, our work with Binance has focused on making digital finance actually work for institutions,” said Roger Bayston, Head of Digital Assets, according to Binance. “Our off-exchange collateral program is just that: letting clients easily put their assets to work in third-party custody while safely earning yield in new ways. That’s the future Benji was designed for, and working with partners like Binance allows us to deliver at scale.”
The initiative is part of a broader effort to merge traditional finance with digital assets at scale. Roger Bayston, Executive Vice President and Head of Digital Assets at Franklin Templeton, said the firm’s collaboration with Binance is designed to make digital finance functional for institutions. “Since partnering in 2025, our work with Binance has focused on making digital finance actually work for institutions (…) Our off-exchange collateral program is just that: letting clients easily put their assets to work in third-party custody while safely earning yield in new ways (…) That’s the future Benji was designed for, and working with partners like Binance allows us to deliver at scale,” Bayston said.
According to a <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/24133257-62eb-41f5-9778-0be200fd3b7d”>blog post, tokenized Treasury and money-market funds saw significant growth in 2025 as investors sought yield and capital efficiency. Assets in such funds climbed about 80% to $7.4 billion, with products from managers like Franklin Templeton increasingly used as collateral in crypto derivatives trades. This trend reflects demand for faster settlement, lower costs, and improved liquidity compared to holding idle cash or stablecoins.
Broader real-world asset tokenization accelerated into 2026. CoinShares’ outlook reported that tokenized real-world assets—led by U.S. Treasuries—grew about 229% in 2025 and were expected to expand further in 2026 due to persistent dollar-yield demand. The report highlights these assets as a key driver of on-chain growth, supporting collateral use cases and continuous settlement cycles for institutions.
In December 2025, the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Abu Dhabi Global Market fully authorized Binance.com under its regulatory framework. Binance became the first global crypto exchange to receive a single comprehensive license covering exchange, clearing, custody, and broker-dealer services within a regulated environment.
Bayston leads initiatives at Franklin Templeton that build products across the digital asset ecosystem and its infrastructure. His responsibilities include expanding institutional-grade solutions that integrate blockchain technology with traditional finance systems.
