Global asset management giant Franklin Templeton, frequently mentioned in the era of Spot ETFs, announced its collaboration with the Arbitrum Foundation and the launch of the OnChain US Government Money Fund (FOBXX) on Arbitrum.
Money Fund Announced
The announcement stated that investors could perform basic FOBXX asset transactions in digital wallets through Franklin Templeton’s blockchain-integrated Benji Investments platform and BENJI token. The firm mentioned that investors could use the Arbitrum network “on demand and subject to eligibility.”
Details about the foundation of the collaboration were also provided, indicating that it was designed to accelerate the integration of traditional finance into the DeFi world. The fund was initially launched on the Stellar blockchain and expanded to Polygon in April.
The fund aims to offer competitive returns by primarily investing in government securities and related instruments while maintaining a stable share price of $1. It was also mentioned that it might support more networks in the future.
Roger Bayston, Head of Digital Assets at Franklin Templeton, stated:
Expanding into the Arbitrum ecosystem is a significant step in our journey to enhance our asset management capabilities with blockchain technology. We are excited about the opportunities this will create for our firm and our clients.
Steven Goldfeder, CEO and co-founder of Offchain Labs, a core participant in Arbitrum, shared the following words:
Franklin Templeton’s commitment to innovation aligns with our mission to provide scalable and efficient solutions for the financial sector. We are excited to see Franklin Templeton join the Arbitrum ecosystem and look forward to the transformative impact their participation will bring to our community.
Current Status on Arbitrum
According to data provided by DeFiLlama, Arbitrum is positioned as the largest Ethereum layer-2 network by total value locked, with a market share of 34% and deposits worth $2.6 billion. Despite this strong outlook, the network’s native token ARB is seen losing strength day by day.
The ARB price is trading at $0.51 after a 0.49% increase in the last 24 hours, but it still seems far from the $2.28 level seen in January.
