JPM - $1.5 Trillion Fund Franklin Templeton Starts Memeing On X: How Crypto Culture Infiltrates Finance | Benzinga
The cryptocurrency industry watched in awe as Spot Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) ETF issuer Franklin Templeton handed control of its X (formerly Twitter) account to its "Digital Assets Research Team" on Wednesday, Jan. 17.
What followed encapsulates the culture shift sweeping traditional finance funds.
What Happened: It started with a seemingly innocuous tweet: "Hi everyone, for the next hour+ our account is being taken over by some members of our Digital Assets Research Team!," announced Franklin Templeton to its 126,000+ X followers on Jan. 17.
It proceeded to add "laser eyes," a favorite meme of Bitcoin supporters, to its Benjamin Franklin avatar and asked:
You are unsure how to feel about Laser Eye Ben? Just think instead of Ben wif hat
— Franklin Templeton (@FTI_US) January 17, 2024
Avid cryptocurrency followers will understand the reference to dogwifhat, a dog-themed memecoin that has run up to over $400 million in market capitalization within months.
Nic Carter, advisor to the Bitcoin Clean Energy Initiative, wondered "what is happening," but the account went on a proverbial tear, posting several memes, such ...