The crypto space is seeing a paradigm shift, with more legacy-backed financial institutions gradually transitioning into the blockchain industry. The latest is American multinational holding company Franklin Resources Inc.

According to a Wednesday filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the investment firm plans to raise $20 million for its Venture Capital Fund dubbed the Franklin Templeton Blockchain Fund I, L.P.

The asset manager admitted in the filing that it had raised $10 million or 50% of the targeted value. The venture is expected to channel the raised funds to blockchain startups and crypto-focused businesses in the coming months.

However, the expected value is minimal given the funds crypto startups gulp in fundraising rounds. Franklin Templeton may likely be testing the SEC’s resolve with the venture fund and could go all out if the results are favorable.

Founded in New York City in 1947, Franklin Resources is a global investment manager with over 12,000 employees spread across 34 countries. It serves clients in 160 countries and provides mutual fund investment services. It is better known as Franklin Templeton, with over $1.5 trillion worth of assets under management (AUM).

Franklin Templeton has a long history with the cryptocurrency industry.

In 2019, Franklin Templeton joined forces with cloud-based institutional wallet provider Curv to bolster the security of digital shares in its money market fund. This saw the investment firm use Curv’s patented multiparty computation (MPC) to secure its blockchain and connect with the Stellar network.

Franklin Templeton was also a key contributor in the $15 million series A funding round of digital asset data company, Amberdata.

The California-based company has also made overtures in establishing a “Tokenized Asset Development Department” following a job posting advertising for a cryptocurrency research analyst last month.

In the LinkedIn post, Franklin Templeton specified that the successful candidate would research the most liquid and tradable crypto-assets like Bitcoin, Ether, and others. Also, the research analyst will conduct a market overview on decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) and build out investment strategies for the firm’s digital products.

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