How Franklin Templeton Moved From Stellar to Canton

Franklin Templeton tokenization is no longer a pilot — it's a deliberate, multi-year infrastructure bet. Roger Bayston, the firm's Head of Digital Assets, went on record this week to explain how one of the world's largest asset managers built its tokenized fund strategy from scratch, starting on Stellar and landing on Canton Network.

Why Franklin Templeton Left Stellar for Canton

Stellar got them started. Canton is where they need to be. When Franklin Templeton first launched its tokenized money market fund, Stellar was a reasonable choice — accessible, fast, and already used in adjacent fintech applications. But institutional finance has requirements a retail payments chain was never designed to meet.

Roger Bayston described the move as a natural progression rather than a rejection of Stellar. The Franklin Templeton tokenization strategy through its Benji Technology Platform now runs on Canton Network — a public permissionless blockchain built for institutional participants from the ground up, with compliance controls, privacy layers, and interoperability baked in rather than bolted on.

That distinction matters more than it sounds. You can't drop a traditional asset manager's fund structure onto a chain built for crypto-native users and expect it to work. Canton exists to solve that exact mismatch.

What Is Canton Network and Why Does It Matter?

What makes Canton Network different from other blockchains for institutions?

Canton Network is purpose-built for financial institutions that need permissioned access controls alongside public verifiability — a blockchain that lets a regulated firm stay regulated while participating in open infrastructure.

For Franklin Templeton, managing over $1.5 trillion in global assets, that combination is non-negotiable. Any tokenization infrastructure has to clear regulatory bars that most crypto-native chains were never designed around. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink made a similar point recently, pushing the idea of a single blockchain for tokenization to prevent fragmentation. Whether Canton ends up being that chain or one of several institutional-grade competitors, major asset managers are no longer just testing the waters.

Franklin Templeton unpacks how one of the world's largest asset managers embraced tokenization.

Does the Stellar Migration Signal a Broader Shift?

Probably. Stellar blockchain was an early mover in tokenized assets and still has real use cases — but a firm like Franklin Templeton migrating away from it deserves attention. Institutional capital follows infrastructure built for institutional capital. Stellar's roots in cross-border payments and remittances made it appealing early, but those roots come with design trade-offs that don't suit complex regulated fund structures.

Bayston's decision to be public about this says something too. Franklin Templeton didn't have to explain any of it — they chose to. That suggests they're positioning Benji as an industry playbook, not just an internal tool.

PwC said recently that institutional crypto adoption has crossed a point of no return as regulatory frameworks shift from draft rules toward active supervision. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reaffirmed U.S. crypto leadership this week. Franklin Templeton looks like a firm that built ahead of that curve — not one scrambling to catch up.