76-Year-Old Franklin Templeton Learns Blockchain Via Jenny Johnson

• Franklin Templeton's Journey Towards Cryptocurrency Adoption
• Embracing Cryptocurrencies
• Blockchain: The Greatest Disruption
• The New Buzzword: Tokenization
• A Journey from New Jersey to Silicon Valley
• Blockchain: The Future of Finance?

Franklin Templeton's Journey Towards Cryptocurrency Adoption

Franklin$0.0015 -3.24% Templeton, with its logo bearing Benjamin Franklin's 18th-century image and its heritage rooted in the investing legend, Sir John Templeton, radiates the old-school financial industry. Its stock ticker symbol is even BEN, and a single family has managed the firm since its inception in 1947. Currently, Jenny Johnson is leading the organization, taking the reins from her brother, father, and grandfather. While the company's history emanates age-old traditions, it does not shy away from modernizations. In 2020, common feedback about the brand was that it was old-fashioned, but since then, Johnson has been steering the $1.33 trillion asset manager into the new world of cryptocurrencies.

Embracing Cryptocurrencies

Johnson has been instrumental in pushing Franklin Templeton to join financial juggernauts like BlackRock and Fidelity in the pursuit of listing a bitcoin ETF in the U.S. The company now offers a money-market fund that processes transactions and tracks ownership on public blockchains. Moreover, it allows clients to purchase crypto and has nodes on several proof-of-stake blockchains, including Ethereum$2,315 -2.42%, Solana$104 5.03%, and Stellar. Despite these advancements, Johnson has a cautious approach to cryptocurrencies, focusing more on the technology that drives them.

Blockchain: The Greatest Disruption

Johnson, in a past interview, highlighted the potential of blockchain technology. She emphasized that although currency is a part of cryptocurrency, she does not believe these digital assets will replace traditional monetary systems. Instead, she suggested that blockchain technology could facilitate the creation of innovative business models in the finance sector. Johnson's attention has been captured by 'tokenization', a concept that involves using blockchain to represent ownership of real-world assets like real estate or privately held companies. These tokens can then be traded and tracked, thereby democratizing access to alternative investments.

The New Buzzword: Tokenization

Tokenization has become a sought-after term in the finance world in 2023, potentially eclipsing the popularity of crypto. Hopes for this concept are high, with digital asset management firm 21.co suggesting that the tokenization of real-world assets could evolve into a $10 trillion market by 2030.

A Journey from New Jersey to Silicon Valley

Johnson's journey to becoming the CEO of Franklin Templeton is a story of personal evolution in the financial world. She began her career in New York City, at Drexel Burnham, before joining Franklin Templeton, based in San Mateo, California, in 1988. Here, she wore many hats, running the credit card business, heading an auto-loan division, and leading all the company's major divisions, including investment management, distribution, technology, operations, and wealth management.

Blockchain: The Future of Finance?

Johnson firmly believes in the potential of blockchain technology to transform the financial sector. In her view, blockchain's efficiency and ability to embed trust into transactions could replace some of the roles traditionally held by financial services, thereby streamlining operations and improving efficiency. She recognizes that the impact of blockchain innovations might not be immediate, but she emphasizes the importance of laying the groundwork for future developments.

Benjamin Franklin once wrote, Look before, or you'll find yourself behind. Keeping that in mind, Franklin Templeton, under Jenny Johnson's leadership, is not just looking but marching ahead in this era of blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies.

Edited by Jonathan Stoker