Franklin Templeton Digital Assets Core SMA Q2 2025 Commentary

Summary Despite some uncertainty around macroeconomic factors that led to global market volatility, portfolio performance was positive for Q2 25. Bitcoin continued to see demand by institutional investors including corporate treasuries, reaching a historic price milestone of ~$112k in mid-May. Ethereum's highly anticipated network upgrade Pectra brought improved scalability and security while launching new features. On a relative basis, all sectors contributed to the portfolio's positive performance. The U.S. Senate passed the GENIUS Act for stablecoin regulation. Key Takeaways Markets: US stocks were volatile due to concerns over the impact of Trump's tariffs on economic growth, inflation, and Fed policy, with fears of recession or stagflation. Despite traditional market volatility, positive momentum around regulation led cryptocurrency markets to rebound during the second quarter of 2025 (Q2 25). Contributors: Most holdings were positive contributors to the portfolio, including tokens in the Currency, Smart Contract Platforms, Infrastructure, and Decentralized Finance sectors. Detractors: Two tokens from the Smart Contract Platforms sector, Polkadot (DOT-USD) (DOT) and Optimism (OP-USD) (OP), and one Infrastructure token, Filecoin (FIL), had slight negative contributions to the portfolio. Outlook: We believe that new blockchain technologies have the potential for capital appreciation that can be captured through strategic selection of their underlying tokens. We believe emerging blockchain technologies offer capital appreciation opportunities through selective exposure to their underlying tokens. Recent moves by the Trump Administration and several U.S. state governments to establish cryptocurrency reserves, establish rules for stablecoins and provide regulatory clarity on the market structure for digital assets aim to position the U.S. as a leading crypto hub. Performance Review