Blockchains are ‘basic utilities’ for the digital economy, says Franklin Templeton crypto head

Published Mon, Jun 19 20239:30 AM EDT

Think of investing in crypto as investing in technology for the data economy. At least, that's how Franklin Templeton sees it. Crypto is unchartered territory for most, but the 76-year-old asset manager has dived deep into research in recent years believing digital assets will transform asset management, capital markets and the increasingly digital, data-driven world at large. "You don't expect it to end just at just Bitcoin and Ethereum , and we expect over the next several years, several things that continue to unfold and find application," Roger Bayston, Franklin Templeton's head of digital assets, told CNBC Pro at the Digital Assets Council of Financial Professionals' VISION conference in Austin, Texas. "These protocols are developing because they're trying to address very large total addressable markets where there's application for these public databases that help reduce friction of one database not being the exact copy of another database, and needing a reconciliation process," Bayston said. Since 2019, the firm has operated node validators on various blockchains – including Ethereum, Solana , Cardano and Polkadot . This means it participates in verifying transactions on the networks and maintaining their records of transactions. It's also launched a registered mutual fund, the OnChain U.S. Government Money Market Fund , on the Stellar and Polygon blockchains; as well as two blockchain investment funds, separately managed accounts that invest in 10 to 15 of the largest digital assets (excluding stablecoins and meme coins), and a consumer app that lets users browse tokenized securities and cryptocurrencies. Investors and money managers have been watching regulatory developments in crypto all year as high profile exchanges like Coinbase and token projects like Solana and Cardano come under severe pressure. Bayston said investors who have the stomach for high volatility and uncertainty could be rewarded in the future. "As the regulatory environment in the U.S. becomes clear there will be continued widespread innovation in these software protocol development platforms," he said.