Jenny Johnson, the CEO of Franklin Templeton, is warning traditional finance firms to embrace blockchain and cryptocurrency or risk obsolescence. Johnson, whose firm manages more than $1.5 trillion in assets, cautions tardy institutions could find themselves facing a “Blockbuster moment.” He uses the example of the once ubiquitous video rental chain to make his case.

Johnson’s argument is equally alarming. If legacy firms don’t change, they may go extinct in five years. To make it, they need to be creative and flexible in a rapidly changing financial ecosystem. Her message amplifies the need for mainstream finance to coordinate with the fast-moving digital asset ecosystem.

Franklin Templeton has been interested in crypto since at least 2018 and created a dedicated blockchain venture fund in 2021. The firm has since been doubling down on the digital asset space and currently manages three cryptocurrency ETFs. Then, as late as 2024, Franklin Templeton made history again as the first firm to receive approval for a dual Bitcoin-Ether ETF. They completed this milestone in collaboration with Hashdex.

In a recent op-ed at Fortune, Johnson announced that blockchain is—and I quote—“the future of finance.” “[W]e need to embrace the potential of technology to revolutionize the financial industry,” he stated. She emphasizes that today’s financial systems are siloed geographically, slow and antiquated. Johnson notes that blockchain networks like Solana and Sui match Visa in transaction speed, signaling the potential for greater efficiency and accessibility.

The dual Bitcoin-Ether ETF is the latest product made available by way of the partnership between Franklin Templeton and Hashdex. This new and innovative financial product is indeed a big step forward. It connects the world of digital assets to the established world of finance.

Johnson’s message is clear. Firms that don’t do what’s necessary to keep pace with the growing digital tide will find themselves at a serious disadvantage in an ever-changing financial landscape. The moment for conventional finance to adopt blockchain and cryptocurrency has finally arrived.