Franklin Templeton has launched a tokenised U.S. dollar money-market fund in Hong Kong, marking a milestone in asset-tokenisation in Asia. The product, tailored initially for professional investors, leverages blockchain infrastructure to bring traditional liquidity and yield-bearing assets into the digital-asset realm.
The fund — registered in Luxembourg but made accessible to eligible investors in Hong Kong — is described as the first of its kind in the region: a tokenised UCITS money market product native to blockchain infrastructure. The vehicle invests in high-quality, short-term U.S. government securities, aiming to generate income while preserving capital and maintaining liquidity — a profile aligned with traditional money-market funds.
However, the method of issuance and servicing is entirely modernised: ownership is represented via tokens on a blockchain-based record-keeping stack, enabling transparent ledger-based records, swift settlement, and potentially lower operational friction.
For Hong Kong, the launch fits within the broader push by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) under its “Fintech 2030” strategy, which sets out tokenisation, digital asset infrastructure and settlement innovation as key pillars. By enabling a regulated asset manager to deliver a tokenised fund product in the city, the ecosystem advances beyond pilot stage toward real-world deployment.
The fund is currently aimed at professional and institutional investors (with threshold requirements), but Franklin Templeton has expressed intent to seek regulatory approval for a retail version in the future.
Bringing institutional money-market exposure on-chain
From a strategic perspective, the product demonstrates how traditional asset-management firms are increasingly marrying conventional finance (yield products, government-backed assets) with blockchain rails.
The aim is to provide regulated investors with access to digital-native formats while retaining the familiar attributes of liquidity, diversification and yield. Yet, the initiative also underscores key challenges: tokenised funds must still navigate custody, regulatory oversight, investor eligibility, secondary-market liquidity and the integration of blockchain interfaces with legacy systems.
If widely adopted, such tokenised money-market funds could unlock new capital flows and embed on-chain settlement for large pools of capital.
In short: Franklin Templeton’s move in Hong Kong is a major step toward mainstreaming tokenised investment vehicles in Asia — and signals that the era of real-world assets on chain is advancing rapidly.
