Franklin Templeton and JPM Asset Management push for stablecoin-style KYC rules on tokenised funds

A newly formed industry coalition has formally petitioned the US Treasury and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to align know-your-customer requirements for tokenised registered funds with the lighter-touch standard that the GENIUS Act grants stablecoins. The Coalition for Tokenized Markets, comprising Franklin Templeton, Janus Henderson, JP Morgan Asset Management, and WisdomTree, sent a letter in July to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and FinCEN Director Andrea Gacki arguing that registered funds deserve the same competitive footing.

Under the GENIUS Act framework for stablecoins, KYC is required at on-boarding and off-boarding rather than at every individual transaction. The coalition contends that imposing a stricter per-transaction KYC obligation on tokenised fund transfers creates a structural disadvantage relative to stablecoin issuers operating under that more permissive standard. The asymmetry is straightforward: if equivalent rules were applied to stablecoins, each user would need to complete full KYC separately with every issuer whose coins they hold.

The petition signals that the tokenised-fund industry is now actively lobbying to shape the regulatory perimeter rather than waiting for rules to be handed down. Whether Treasury and FinCEN treat the letter as a basis for formal rulemaking or guidance remains to be seen, but the coalition’s formation and the explicit appeal to competitive parity with stablecoins suggests the debate over KYC architecture will intensify as tokenised fund volumes grow.