The New Global Order of Capital: Investing through Transition and Transformation

• Franklin Templeton’s Johnson ‘totally bullish’ on outlook for digital asset industry

• “Blockchain is going to be the infrastructure of financial services. There's no question in my mind on that. It’s going to take over.”

• Johnson highlights the convergence of traditional finance and DeFi and the changing competitive landscape

Jenny Johnson, CEO of Franklin Templeton and one of Wall Street’s most powerful women, is “totally bullish” about the prospects for the digital asset industry.

“Blockchain is going to be the infrastructure of financial services. There's no question in my mind on that. It’s going to take over,” she said at the opening session at CfC St. Moritz 2026, in a keynote interview led by Staci Warden, CEO of Algorand Foundation. 

A key theme of 2025 has been the dismantling of hurdles that hold financial institutions and traditional market players back from engaging in the space. This year, the results are starting to show.

“I think there is a conference happening,” she said.

Franklin Templeton was an early mover, with Johnson, whose grandfather founded the asset manager, emphasising the need for continued evolution and the importance of not resting until innovations are fully embedded and commercialized, even as one of the early movers.

“You have to be paranoid; to be afraid that somebody can jump in after you. I think we have a really substantial runway, but [others can] jump in after you if you don't get it right.”

Franklin Templeton started its blockchain journey in 2018, launching the first mutual fund using the technology for transactions three years later. 

“I have such fear that we're going to be the mouse sitting in the Xerox RN lab once Steve Jobs walks through and says, I want to have access,” Johnson said, referencing Apple’s Steve Jobs, who turned another company’s idea into Apple’s commercial success.

Johnson recounted that she is often asked how she convinced the manager’s board to get involved. She didn’t even try, she said, knowing they’d say no. Instead, she spearheaded a side project eliciting much tutting from the traditional parts of the business. The thought of being left behind galvanizing her into action. 

“Anybody who's worked at a big organization knows how hard it is to get change. Your number one issue is change management within the firm, and it's never the tech guys,” she emphasized.

There are significant commercial benefits too. Looking back, Johnson highlighted that even during the early adoption of blockchain technology, cost efficiencies were being made with their tokenized money market fund, which was able to process large numbers of transactions at a fraction of the cost charged by more traditional means.

Johnson stressed the potential for stablecoins and highlighted the major change in behaviours in the past 12 months that has led to the growing convergence of traditional finance and DeFi.

This is setting up a new competitive landscape for everyone, including digital asset newbies from Wall Street as well as crypto OGs. For Franklin Templeton,  being an early mover is starting to pay off.

“Both sides are wary of the other. We comfortably play in both, and so I think that gives us a really nice position,” Johnson added.