Franklin Templeton's Chetan Karkhanis: Asia leads in tokenized finance

Chetan Karkhanis: Chetan Karkhanis serves as Senior Vice President of digital assets at Franklin Templeton, leading client engagement and partnership efforts in the Asia-Pacific region. He oversees initiatives to bring tokenized investment products to institutional and other investors through regulated platforms. Karkhanis has been active in discussions and events on institutional adoption of blockchain technology and tokenized assets. Franklin Templeton: Franklin Templeton is a global asset manager with a focus on digital assets and tokenization initiatives. It has expanded its presence in Asia through partnerships to distribute tokenized money market funds and other blockchain-enabled products. Chetan Karkhanis, its SVP of digital assets client engagement, has highlighted varying paces of progress across Asian markets on tokenized finance frameworks. Tokenization Expansion: Franklin Templeton has partnered with platforms in Hong Kong and Singapore to make tokenized money market funds available to Asian investors via blockchain infrastructure. Regional Regulatory Pace: Markets including Korea, Japan, Singapore, and Hong Kong are advancing frameworks for stablecoins and tokenized assets, positioning them ahead of others in the region relative to U.S. developments. Institutional Partnerships: Recent collaborations between asset managers and regulated digital asset exchanges in Asia are facilitating distribution of tokenized products to professional and institutional clients.