DBS, Franklin Templeton, and Ripple have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to launch new trading and lending solutions for accredited and institutional investors, powered by tokenized money market funds on the XRP Ledger and Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin.
DBS, Franklin Templeton, and Ripple have entered into a partnership that brings together banking, asset management, and blockchain expertise. The focus is on widening access to digital assets for institutional investors. The partnership comes at a time when the digital asset market is gaining strong momentum.
A report by EY-Parthenon and Coinbase shows that 87% of institutional investors are expected to invest in digital assets in 2025.
Trading and yield opportunities
Traditionally, digital asset investors allocate to tokens such as Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), and XRP, exposing them to volatility without yield. To address this, DBS Digital Exchange (DDEx) will list sgBENJI — Franklin Templeton’s token of its Onchain U.S. Dollar Short-Term Money Market Fund, alongside RLUSD.
Eligible DBS clients will be able to trade RLUSD for sgBENJI tokens, allowing them to move into a relatively stable, yield-generating asset within minutes and around the clock.
In the next stage of the plan, DBS is looking at allowing clients to use sgBENJI tokens as collateral. This would give investors the option to access credit either directly from the bank through a repurchase agreement (repo) or via third-party platforms, with DBS acting as the custodian of the collateral. The move is designed to expand liquidity access while maintaining client asset security.
As part of the partnership, Franklin Templeton will put sgBENJI on the XRP Ledger to improve access across different blockchains. The ledger’s speed and low transaction costs make it a practical choice for handling tokenized money market funds, which need to be traded and settled quickly at scale.
“Digital asset investors need solutions that can meet the unique demands of a borderless 24/7 asset class. This partnership demonstrates how tokenised securities can play that role while injecting greater efficiency and liquidity in global financial markets,” said Lim Wee Kian, CEO of DBS Digital Exchange.
Roger Bayston, Head of Digital Assets at Franklin Templeton, added, “We believe that blockchain and tokenization unlock powerful new use cases that have the potential to reshape the global financial ecosystem… This collaboration represents a meaningful advancement in the utility of tokenised securities and a significant step forward in the growth of Asia’s digital asset ecosystem.”
Nigel Khakoo, VP and Global Head of Trading and Markets at Ripple, called the initiative “a game-changer,” noting it enables investors to rebalance seamlessly between stablecoins and yield-generating funds “all within a single, trusted ecosystem.”
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