Franklin Templeton and SWIFT Push Forward 24/7 Tokenized Finance
Tokenized money market funds and digital bank deposits are moving beyond experimentation and into early financial infrastructure, executives said Wednesday at Consensus Hong Kong 2026. Speakers from Franklin Templeton, SWIFT and Ledger described an industry shifting from pilot programs to real-world deployment. Adoption remains small relative to global capital markets, but institutions are increasingly building systems designed for round-the-clock settlement and on-chain access.
In brief
- Franklin Templeton targets $10T money market funds with on-chain issuance.
- SWIFT explores tokenized deposits without altering bank balance sheets.
- Institutions build systems for 24/7 settlement and constant liquidity.
- Tokenized assets remain small versus $200T global wealth market.
SWIFT Develops Blockchain Layer to Connect CBDCs and Tokenized Deposits
For Franklin Templeton, tokenization starts with familiar products. Chetan Karkhanis said tokenization is about taking traditional financial instruments and making them “cheaper, better and faster” by putting them directly on-chain.
The asset manager has focused on tokenizing money market funds, a roughly $10 trillion market composed of short-term U.S. Treasuries and repurchase agreements. By issuing fund shares directly on blockchain networks and distributing them through self-custody wallets and exchanges, the firm aims to offer continuous liquidity.
Moving shares on-chain could also reduce operational costs, including shareholder servicing fees that typically range from five to 15 basis points.
On the payments side, SWIFT is exploring tokenized deposits—digital versions of traditional bank balances. Devendra Verma of SWIFT’s digital assets unit said banks would continue holding fiat deposits on their balance sheets.
At the same time, they will issue corresponding tokens to represent those balances on-chain. The model, he argued, modernizes payment rails without changing the underlying banking structure.
You have fiat balances that banks have on their balance sheet… but as they move on the new digital form of value, the tokenized deposits represent these on chain.
Devendra Verma
SWIFT, which connects more than 11,500 financial institutions worldwide, is developing a blockchain-based coordination layer capable of linking central bank digital currencies, tokenized deposits and other regulated digital assets.
While roughly 75% of SWIFT payments already reach beneficiaries within minutes, Verma said the next objective is to eliminate cut-off times and holiday delays, enabling continuous settlement.
Tokenized Assets Still Tiny Slice of $200T Global Wealth
Panelists outlined several core components of this shift:
- Issuing traditional fund shares directly on public blockchains.
- Representing bank deposits as regulated on-chain liabilities.
- Integrating tokenized assets with existing payment infrastructure.
- Enabling 24/7 settlement without altering bank balance sheets.
Even so, tokenized assets account for only a fraction of global wealth. Roughly $300 billion in stablecoins and about $40 billion in tokenized Treasuries and other real-world assets currently exist on-chain, Karkhanis noted. Global wealth, by contrast, exceeds $200 trillion.
Regulation remains a critical constraint. Verma emphasized the need for consistent standards governing accounting, compliance and balance sheet treatment before institutions scale further. Security and governance present additional hurdles. Jean-François Rochet of Ledger said institutional key management remains as much a cultural challenge as a technical one.
Despite crypto’s origins in disintermediation, speakers agreed the likely outcome is a hybrid system. Decentralized access may expand, but traditional financial institutions will remain—provided they can redefine and justify their roles within a more programmable financial architecture.
Maximize your Cointribune experience with our "Read to Earn" program! For every article you read, earn points and access exclusive rewards. Sign up now and start earning benefits.
Disclaimer: The content of this article solely reflects the author's opinion and does not represent the platform in any capacity. This article is not intended to serve as a reference for making investment decisions.
You may also like
Volatility Divergence Between Individual Stocks and Index! Popular US Stock Trading: Go Long on Stock Options, Hedge with Index Options
With the divergence in the AI narrative, drastic fluctuations in oil prices, and U.S. Treasury yields soaring to a 20-year high, the degree of dispersion among S&P 500 constituents has risen to the 95th percentile in 30 years. As single-stock volatility continues to compress, entry costs have become relatively low, and the volatility gap between individual stocks and the index has widened again. This has opened a rare window for dispersed trading strategies such as "long single-stock options + short index options."
US Treasury yield curve approaches inversion! Is the bond market questioning the outlook for the US economy?
The U.S. Treasury yield curve is rapidly approaching the inversion threshold—the spread between the 10-year and 2-year yields has narrowed to historic lows, and bank stocks have responded with a technical correction. This warning signal, regarded as a "hard rule" for recession, is tearing apart market consensus: some are betting the curve will soon invert, while others firmly believe economic resilience will mitigate the risk. Amid ongoing Federal Reserve rate hikes, the outcome of this bond market game may reshape the narrative logic of the entire asset market.

From ICU to KTV! The Polarized "AI Narrative" Leaves Investors "Exhausted"
In just two weeks, the Nasdaq 100 experienced an extreme rollercoaster: first losing $600 billion in market value due to “AI threat” concerns, then rebounding to reclaim $3 trillion thanks to the viral Meta assistant. Analysts believe that market sentiment is swinging violently between fear and greed, detached from fundamentals. The turmoil has driven Nvidia’s valuation to a ten-year low, intensified the bull-bear divide, and the high volatility driven by narratives has become a long-term norm for investors. This week, Micron will release its financial report; regardless of the outcome, the sharp swings in market sentiment are unlikely to subside.
Weekly Preview: Micron (MU.US) earnings test the quality of AI infrastructure, OpenAI and White House AI meeting resonance, PCE and Nonfarm Payrolls set the tone for October interest rates
This week, the market's focus will shift from politics and product launches to financial reports and macroeconomic data.
