Tokenisation news, 1 September 2026
Franklin Templeton brought its tokenised US government money market fund to Asian digital-asset investors via HashKey Exchange, Coinbase launched tokenised Apple, Nvidia, Meta and Alphabet shares on its own blockchain network, and Standard Chartered became the first bank authorised to distribute Hong Kong's regulated dollar-pegged stablecoin.
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Key takeaways
- Franklin Templeton's tokenised US government money market fund, grBENJI, launched on HashKey Exchange's Earn channel in Hong Kong on 24 August 2026, for professional investors only.
- Coinbase launched tokenised versions of Apple, Nvidia, Meta and Alphabet shares on Base, its own blockchain network, on 24 August 2026, with shares held by regulated custodian Alpaca under Abu Dhabi Global Market supervision.
- Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) became the first bank authorised to distribute HKDAP, a Hong Kong dollar stablecoin redeemable one-for-one for cash, and plans to use it to settle tokenised money market fund trades from Q4 2026.
- All three developments landed within the same week, spanning fund distribution, tokenised equities, and settlement infrastructure.
Franklin Templeton brings its tokenised US government fund to Asian investors
Franklin Templeton has partnered with Hong Kong-based HashKey Exchange to bring its tokenised money market fund — which holds short-term US government debt and cash, with ownership recorded on a blockchain instead of a traditional register — to professional digital-asset investors across Asia. The fund, known as grBENJI, went live on HashKey's Earn channel on 24 August 2026. Access is restricted to professional investors and the product is not offered to the public in Hong Kong. Franklin Templeton said it plans to extend the partnership beyond money market funds to other tokenised products over time.
The Investre take: Fund managers no longer need to build their own distribution pipes to reach digital-asset investors — a licensed exchange can now do that job instead. As more of these funds move beyond the US, the register behind them needs a Controlling Agent that can keep pace with distribution, not just certify it after the fact.
Coinbase launches tokenised Apple, Nvidia, Meta and Alphabet shares on Base
Coinbase has launched tokenised versions of four US stocks — Apple, Nvidia, Meta and Alphabet — on Base, its own blockchain network. Each token represents a real share held by regulated custodian Alpaca, under a structure supervised by Abu Dhabi's financial regulator, and can trade around the clock for investors outside the US. The tokens move between digital wallets without restriction and can be used as collateral in decentralised finance applications. Coinbase said more stocks will follow the initial four.
The Investre take: Coinbase didn't wait for a stock exchange to bring equities on-chain — it built the custody, compliance and settlement itself and asked a regulator to sign off. That's the model European fund infrastructure will increasingly compete against, not the slow-moving pilots most of the industry has watched so far.
Standard Chartered becomes first bank to distribute Hong Kong's regulated stablecoin
Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) has become the first bank authorised to distribute HKDAP, a Hong Kong dollar stablecoin redeemable one-for-one for cash, previously available only through crypto exchanges. From the fourth quarter of 2026, the bank plans to use HKDAP to settle subscriptions and redemptions in tokenised money market funds, letting the cash leg of a trade move as fast as the fund units themselves. It will also test the token for cross-border transfers within its own network.
The Investre take: A stablecoin here is doing a narrow, practical job: letting the money side of a trade catch up to a token that already settles instantly. That gap between how fast a fund unit moves and how fast the cash behind it moves is exactly the problem fund infrastructure will need to solve as tokenised products scale beyond pilots.
What this means for European fund managers
Luxembourg managers already have the legal basis to run this kind of infrastructure themselves. Under the Blockchain IV Law, an authorised Controlling Agent can maintain a fund's share register on distributed ledger without needing a separate transfer agent or central securities depository. Investre was the first firm authorised for this role. Asset managers exploring tokenised share classes or distribution through digital-asset channels can review the UCITS and AIF manager use-case pages for how this applies to their own structures.
Further reading: Investre becomes the first Controlling Agent under Blockchain IV Law, or The Final Block podcast.
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