-
Franklin
Templeton
CEO
Jenny
Johnson
said
traditional
finance
is
underestimating
the
size
of
bitcoin. -
She
referenced
the
cryptocurrency’s
transaction
volume,
which
in
2023
was
twice
as
high
as
that
of
Mastercard
and
Visa
combined. -
Johnson
spoke
at
the
Wyoming
Blockchain
Symposium
in
Jackson
Hole
on
Tuesday.
-
01:53
U.S.
Adds
206K
Jobs
in
June;
Mt.
Gox
Begins
Repayments
in
Bitcoin
and
Bitcoin
Cash -
09:47
Visa
Is
the
‘Bridge’
Between
Payment
and
Blockchain
Technologies:
Head
of
Crypto -
01:11
Why
USDT
Dominates
Supply
With
Lower
Transaction
Volume -
00:53
Tokenization
and
Stablecoins
Continue
to
Be
TradFi’s
Top
Interest
in
Crypto:
Expert
JACKSON
HOLE,
WYOMING
—
Franklin
Templeton
CEO
Jenny
Johnson,
who
steered
the
asset
management
giant
toward
the
digital
asset
space
after
taking
over
her
family’s
company
in
2020,
is
shocked
by
how
much
traditional
financial
firms
are
unaware
of
Bitcoin’s
scale.
In
a
conversation
at
the
Wyoming
Blockchain
Symposium
in
Jackson
Hole
on
Tuesday,
Johnson
said
30%
of
her
day-to-day
work
is
spent
looking
at
disruptive
technology,
as
her
main
focus
is
positioning
the
firm
for
the
next
generation.
This
includes
digital
assets,
which
Johnson
believes
is
one
of
two
big,
obvious
trends
that
she
didn’t
want
to
miss.
(The
other
is
artificial
intelligence.)
“What’s
crazy
to
me
is
that
in
traditional
finance,
they
have
no
idea
about
the
amount
of
money
and
the
volume
[of
bitcoin],”
Johnson
said.
In
2023,
the
Bitcoin
(BTC)
blockchain
processed
over
$36.6
trillion
in
transactions
as
the
market
recovered
from
a
tough
year.
This
is
in
contrast
to
Mastercard
and
Visa,
the
two
big
payment
networks
worldwide,
which
processed
$9
trillion
and
$14.8
trillion,
respectively.
“There’s
an
entire
ecosystem
that
almost
ignores
what
is
a
parallel,
massive
ecosystem,”
Johnson
said.
Mastercard
and
Visa
aren’t
ignoring
blockchain
technology.
Both
companies
have
made
efforts
in
recent
years
to
add
crypto
payments
to
their
networks.
Visa
in
particular
has
run
trial
after
trial
to
test
out
new
product
offerings
and
has
partnered
with
several
crypto-native
firms,
including
Circle
and
Solana,
to
grow
a
stronger
footing
in
the
space.
Mastercard
is
rolling
out
a
blockchain-based
debit
card.
Franklin
Templeton,
after
the
appointment
of
Johnson
as
the
company’s
CEO,
quickly
became
a
leader
among
traditional
financial
asset
managers.
Its
OnChain
U.S.
Government
Money
Market
Fund
(FOBXX)
became
the
first
fund
to
use
a
public
blockchain
to
record
transactions
and
ownership
in
2021.
Earlier
this
week,
the
company
filed
a
proposal
with
the
Securities
and
Exchange
Commission
to
launch
a
fresh
exchange-traded
fund,
trading
under
the
ticker
symbol
EZPZ,
that
would
expose
investors
to
a
range
of
digital
assets.
Coinbase
would
be
the
custodian
for
that
fund.
