A press release titled, "Franklin Templeton and Binance Advance Strategic Collaboration with Institutional Off-Exchange Collateral Program," tells us, "Franklin Templeton, a global investment leader and Binance, the world's leading cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume and users, ... announced a new institutional off-exchange collateral program, making digital markets more secure and capital-efficient. Now live, eligible clients can use tokenized money market fund shares issued through Franklin Templeton's Benji Technology Platform as off-exchange collateral when trading on Binance." (Note: Please join us for our upcoming Bond Fund Symposium, which is March 19-20 in Boston. We hope to see you next month in Boston!)
It continues, "The program alleviates a long-standing pain point for institutional traders by allowing them to use traditional regulated, yield-bearing money market fund assets in digital markets without parking those assets on an exchange. Instead, the value of Benji-issued fund shares is mirrored within Binance's trading environment, while the tokenized assets themselves remain securely held off-exchange in regulated custody. This reduces counterparty risk, letting institutional participants earn yield and support their trading activity without hedging on custody, liquidity, or regulatory protections."
Roger Bayston, Head of Digital Assets at Franklin Templeton, comments, "Since partnering in 2025, our work with Binance has focused on making digital finance actually work for institutions. Our off-exchange collateral program is just that: letting clients easily put their assets to work in regulated custody while safely earning yield in new ways. That's the future Benji was designed for, and working with partners like Binance allows us to deliver it at scale."
Binance Head of VIP & Institutional Catherine Chen, says, "Partnering with Franklin Templeton to offer tokenized real-world assets for off-exchange collateral settlement is a natural next step in our mission to bring digital assets and traditional finance closer together. Innovating ways to use traditional financial instruments on-chain opens up new opportunities for investors and shows just how blockchain technology can make markets more efficient."
The release states, "Assets participating in the program remain held off-exchange in a regulated custody environment, with tokenized money market fund shares pledged as collateral for trading on Binance. Custody and settlement infrastructure is supported by Ceffu, Binance's institutional crypto-native custody partner.... Launching the institutional off-exchange collateral program expands on both Franklin Templeton's and Binance's growing networks of off-exchange program partners and represents another effort since announcing Franklin Templeton and Binance's strategic collaboration in September 2025."
It adds, "By using Benji to bridge tokenized money market funds, Franklin Templeton is taking trusted investment products and making them work in modern markets -- allowing institutions to trade, manage risk, and move capital more efficiently as digital finance becomes an everyday part of the financial system. Offering more tokenized real-world assets on Binance meets the increasing institutional demand for stable, yield-bearing collateral that can settle 24/7. This gives investors greater choice and enhances their trading experience on the world's largest regulated digital asset exchange."
A separate press release, "Uniswap Labs and Securitize Collaborate to Unlock Liquidity Options for BlackRock's BUIDL," states, "Uniswap Labs, the leader in decentralized finance, and Securitize, the leader in tokenizing real-world assets (RWAs), ... announced a strategic integration to make BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL) shares available to trade via UniswapX technology. This integration will enable onchain trading of BUIDL, both unlocking new liquidity options for BUIDL holders, and marking a significant step in bridging the gap between traditional finance and DeFi."
Hayden Adams, Uniswap Labs Founder and CEO, tells us, "Our mission at Labs is simple: make exchanging value cheaper, faster and more accessible. Enabling BUIDL on UniswapX with BlackRock and Securitize supercharges our mission by creating efficient markets, better liquidity, and faster settlement. I'm excited to see what we build together."
The release also says, "Securitize Markets will facilitate trading for any BUIDL investor who elects to participate through UniswapX's RFQ framework. The automated system enables participants to identify the most competitive quote from an ecosystem of whitelisted market participants known as subscribers (including Flowdesk, Tokka Labs, and Wintermute), and settles the trade atomically onchain through immutable smart contracts. All investors utilizing the capability are pre-qualified and whitelisted through Securitize."
It continues, "With this integration of UniswapX and Securitize, investors now have the option to access available quotes across the market to swap BUIDL bilaterally with available whitelisted subscribers 24/7, 365 days a year.... BlackRock has also made a strategic investment within the Uniswap ecosystem."
BlackRock's Global Head of Digital Assets Robert Mitchnick adds, "This collaboration with Uniswap Labs alongside Securitize is a notable step in the convergence of tokenized assets with decentralized finance. The integration of BUIDL into UniswapX marks a major leap forward in the interoperability of tokenized USD yield funds with stablecoins."
