Why Franklin Templeton Thinks Wall Street Is Underestimating Crypto’s Impact

Wall Street spent years debating whether crypto deserved a place inside the financial system.

Franklin Templeton increasingly thinks that debate has it backwards. The more important question may be how much of the existing financial system eventually starts behaving like crypto.

For Chris Perkins, head of Franklin Crypto, the shift is already underway.

"Every institution is integrating blockchain technology in one way, shape or form," Perkins told Coinage. "Market structure is changing overnight. We will be in an era of 24-seven markets. If you're not 24-seven capable, you'll be left behind and someone else is going to eat your lunch."

That is a notably aggressive prediction coming from Franklin Templeton, one of the world's largest traditional asset managers. But Franklin has increasingly been putting money behind that conviction, too.

Earlier this year, Franklin Templeton completed its acquisition of 250 Digital, the crypto investment firm spun out of CoinFund that Perkins previously led, folding its strategies and team into the newly created Franklin Crypto unit. The deal was another signal that the traditional asset manager is not treating crypto as a side experiment.

Perkins said the timing is particularly telling.