Franklin Templeton: Ordinals driving Bitcoin innovation 'renaissance'

Major financial services firm Franklin Templeton, which manages approximately $1.5 trillion in assets, believes bitcoin is experiencing a “renaissance” in innovation driven by ordinals and other new developments in bitcoin.

JUST IN: $1.5 Trillion Asset Manager Franklin Templeton Says Ordinals Driving 'Positive Momentum' in twitter.com/hashtag/bitcoin?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#bitcoin innovation.

The institutions are coming pic.twitter.com/3lSDwNwE5Q

– bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) twitter.com/BitcoinMagazine/status/1775807593954398615?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>April 4, 2024

In recent years, Franklin Templeton has become one of the first major institutional adopters of bitcoin. After filing for a spot btc ETF last year, the company launched its Franklin bitcoin ETF (EZBC) in January amid a wave of SEC approvals.

This openness to bitcoin continued in a recent report from Franklin Templeton's Digital Assets division in which it highlighted the rise of bitcoin-based nfts called Ordinals, new fungible tokens, and layer 2 protocols.

Franklin Templeton x.com/FTI_DA/status/1775552645689749905?s=20″>tweeted that these new projects primarily drive positive momentum in bitcoin innovation. Trading volume data shows ordinals like NodeMonkes and Runestone outperforming ethereum nfts.

According to the report, this provides evidence that bitcoin offers advantages over other blockchains, and that its security, decentralization, and large user base give it an advantage for widespread adoption.

Beyond nfts, technical standards like BRC-20 and Runes are expanding bitcoin's functionality. Along with Layer 2 scaling, these developments are driving a new phase of growth and maturity, the Wall Street firm said.

Franklin Templeton's bullish outlook reflects a broader institutional warm-up towards bitcoin and its capabilities, with big players like BlackRock also embracing bitcoin even as they openly discuss “tokenization” of assets.