Franklin Templeton Fund Shares Now Back Bybit Trades While Earning Yield

What happened

Franklin Templeton expanded its off-exchange collateral programme to Bybit, allowing eligible clients to pledge tokenised money market fund shares to borrow USDT or USDC. The pledged shares represent about $686 million in net assets and keep earning yield while held by ByCustody.

Confirmed

Global impact / market context

This lets investors use fund shares as collateral, which means they can borrow stablecoins without selling holdings that still earn yield. It ties traditional money market funds closer to crypto trading, possibly increasing borrowed money use and market activity on Bybit.

Analyst inference

Tokenised money market fund shares are fund holdings recorded on a blockchain. Using them as collateral while held off-exchange by a custodian shows traditional fund products blending with crypto trading, giving investors a way to raise cash while keeping yield.

Analyst inference

What to watch

1. Franklin Templeton's programme now includes Bybit and involves about $686 million in pledged fund shares held by ByCustody. Confirmed
2. More eligible clients pledging shares could increase stablecoin borrowing on Bybit and change how much cash available traders keep for collateral. Analyst inference
3. Watch whether the programme expands beyond USDT and USDC borrowing or adds other fund products, which would signal wider adoption of tokenised fund collateral. Proposed

Affected assets

• USDC — USD Coin
• USDT — Tether

Evidence

• coinpaprika.com