Franklin Templeton, the leading global asset management company, has made a groundbreaking announcement on its stance regarding XRP through a post on X. The asset manager noted how XRP will be placed at the core of its digital asset strategy. Franklin Templeton explains why it is adopting this XRP-centered strategy for its digital asset management while giving special attention to XRPZ, its spot exchange-traded product.
This comment from Franklin Templeton has sparked a buzz in the industry regarding the growing potential of XRP as a digital asset. With XRP attracting such a significant institutional interest, the asset is clearly poised on a growth trajectory. Institutional interest has been one of XRP’s greatest strengths during the recent crypto market volatility. While XRP inflows surged into the market, the institutional products like ETFs were able to absorb this massive volume, helping the asset maintain its composure.
XRP’s Institutional Trust Grows with Franklin Templeton’s ETF Launch
Franklin Templeton is indeed a major player with more than $1.6 trillion in assets managed over various markets. Since the launch of the XRP ETF, it has seen a net capital inflow of $239 million. Franklin Templeton currently holds a massive reserve of XRP amounting to 118 million tokens.
It was in late November of 2025 that Franklin Templeton launched their Franklin XRP Trust on the NYSE Arca. This exchange-traded product’s ticker symbol is XRPZ and has been trading successfully since its inception. XRPZ offers investors a regulated exposure to the digital asset XRP without having to manage the complexities and risks associated with traditional crypto spot trading.
Roger Bayston: XRP’s Foundational Utility Makes It the Ideal Lead for Digital Portfolios
The highlight, however, is the latest reveal from the top management of Franklin Templeton regarding their decision to choose XRP as the central asset of their digital asset strategy. These comments echo their confidence and trust in XRP and the XRP Ledger. According to Roger Bayston, Head of Digital Assets at Franklin Templeton, XRP becomes the most suitable candidate since it is an asset with clear advantages when it comes to real-time, low-cost settlements of cross-border payments. According to Bayston, the XRP Ledger’s design is inherently advantaged and has huge potential.
In addition to this, Bayston pointed out how the metrics surrounding XRP, like the altcoin’s market capitalization and global value transfer, have the potential to make XRP a great candidate for regulated exposure. This means that the likeness towards XRP from major institutional investors is built upon a solid foundation of trust, which comes courtesy of XRP’s strong performance and tactical use cases. Franklin Templeton is an experienced asset manager who already manages both Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs; the XRP ETF was their latest addition. However, it is based on XRP’s performance that Franklin Templeton has been convinced to choose XRP as the central asset, which will lead the digital asset pack of Franklin Templeton from now on.
Mirroring Commodities: Franklin Templeton’s Tactical Use of the Grantor Trust for XRP
XRPZ from Franklin Templeton is set up as a grantor trust. To facilitate its daily operations, this trust holds in reserve XRP tokens and calculates the NAV (Net Asset Value) daily. Franklin Templeton has also set up institutional-grade partnerships with Coinbase and BNY Mellon to manage the asset reserve. All of these actions combined provide Franklin Templeton with the ability to bridge the gap between traditional finance and decentralized finance.
The decision to deploy XRPZ as a grantor trust is a strategic legal move. This is found typically in the case of physically backed commodity ETFs like Gold. This mode of ownership allows for a direct ownership correlation for the investors without them having to hold the actual asset.
This has the additional advantage of tax simplification in the US. Grantor trust models have a simplified tax structure, and the ability to trade a lucrative digital asset without having to worry about its management and tax complexities is a great advantage. This is one of the reasons why XRP ETFs have been witnessing increased capital inflows even when the spot crypto market was in a bad condition by the end of 2025.
