Bitcoin (BTC) aside, the best investment in crypto is its “picks and shovels,” according to the CEO of $1.6 trillion asset manager Franklin Templeton. Jenny Johnson, the third-generation leader of the manager, spoke at the SALT conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming on Tuesday, doubling down on what in her opinion will be the biggest use cases of blockchain technology and where investors should put their money. In her view, bitcoin functions as a “fear currency” — a financial refuge for people in countries where governments can block access to funds or where national currencies lose value over time. But despite its appeal in those scenarios, she sees it as a distraction. Bitcoin, she argues, is the “greatest distraction for one of the greatest disruptions that is coming to financial services.” That disruption, she said, lies in the underlying infrastructure — not in digital assets themselves, but in the systems that support them. That’s where she believes capital should be focused. “The picks and shovels are the baseline of the strong, layered apps,” Johnson said. “I like the rails as a starting point,” she added, referring to blockchain networks. “Then there are some great consumer apps that are coming out that I think are really exciting.” She also sees promise in the role of validators, the entities that maintain blockchain networks. For active investment managers, they could offer a new layer of transparency and are a “game changer”. “Just imagine seeing on public equity all the transactions that go in and out of that company and how much information that gives you,” she said. Johnson led the asset management firm into digital assets after taking over her family’s company in 2020. Under her leadership, the firm has launched multiple crypto exchange-traded products and introduced the OnChain U.S. Government Market Fund, a tokenized investment vehicle. She expects financial products like mutual funds and ETFs to eventually move to blockchains, where they could operate more efficiently and at lower cost. But for now, regulation remains the “biggest inhibitor” to that shift, she said. Part of the hesitation, she added, comes from the sheer number of digital assets likely to fail — a level of risk regulators aren’t yet prepared to manage.
