@Bybit_Ins and @FTI_US have joined forces to bring tokenized money market fund shares into Bybit's institutional trading ecosystem, the latest sign that the boundary between traditional finan
@Bybit_Ins and @FTI_US have joined forces to bring tokenized money market fund shares into Bybit's institutional trading ecosystem, the latest sign that the boundary between traditional finance and crypto markets is narrowing.
Under the arrangement, eligible institutional clients can pledge shares issued through Franklin Templeton's Benji technology platform as off-exchange collateral to obtain $USDT and $USDC trading credit lines. The shares are issued through the Benji Technology Platform, Franklin Templeton's proprietary blockchain-integrated record-keeping and transfer agency infrastructure.The platform currently pays an annualized return of 3.7% based on the latest 7-day interest rate.
The key appeal for institutional users is that they do not have to move their underlying assets onto the exchange. Users will not have to move the underlying assets to Bybit. Instead, regulated custody platform ByCustody will hold the underlying assets off-exchange, with the value mirrored in Bybit's trading environment to enable yield generation while unlocking trading liquidity. In practical terms, clients remain exposed to regulated, yield-bearing assets while simultaneously accessing crypto trading capital.
Franklin Templeton is expanding its off-exchange collateral program to Bybit, allowing the exchange's users to use shares in Franklin Templeton's tokenized money market funds for crypto trading. The partnership allows investors and wallet holders on the exchange to pledge shares, which represent about $686 million in net assets, as collateral to borrow stablecoins USDT or USDC while earning yield on the underlying assets.
This is not Franklin Templeton's first move of this kind. The firm also offers its tokenized money market funds to customers of Binance and OKX.The expansion also reflects broader industry trends, with platforms like Crypto.com and Deribit allowing qualified users to use BlackRock's BUIDL fund as trading collateral.
Franklin Templeton's Benji platform has been steadily building out its blockchain footprint. Launched in 2021, BENJI is the world's first and only U.S.-registered mutual fund using blockchain-integrated technology to process transactions and record share ownership fully onchain.BENJI is available on nine public blockchains: Stellar, Polygon, Arbitrum, Avalanche, Aptos, Ethereum, Base, Solana, and BNB Smart Chain.
The regulatory backdrop has also grown more supportive. On August 12, 2026, the SEC's Division of Investment Management issued a no-action letter to Franklin Templeton, allowing BENJI to sit inside ETFs and mutual funds as cash and securities lending collateral. The letter covers the Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund, which trades under the ticker FOBXX.
For Bybit's institutional clients, the partnership offers a way to put idle regulated assets to work without sacrificing yield or moving capital onto an exchange, a structure that is likely to attract growing interest as tokenized real-world assets continue to mature.
Sources:CoinDesk: Franklin Templeton brings its tokenized collateral service to BybitFranklin Templeton: Benji PlatformGenfinity: Franklin Templeton Tokenized Fund Wins SEC Clearance
