Franklin Templeton Backs Bitcoin $BTC DeFi Push, Citing ‘New Utility’ for Investors"I don’t think focusing on Bitcoin DeFi will dilute or complicate Bitcoin’s core narrative." Farrelly said.


The narrative around bitcoin $BTC is expanding beyond its traditional role as a store of value.

Franklin Templeton's Kevin Farrelly sees this as a positive step.

"A lot of interesting Bitcoin DeFi use cases can make Bitcoin assets more valuable, give users more reason to hold and use in the future," said another industry insider.

As the Dubai Token2049 conference concludes, one key takeaway is that the narrative around bitcoin (BTC) $BTC is swiftly expanding beyond its traditional role as a store of value to a potential DeFi asset competing with Ethereum and Solana.

Prominent industry players like Franklin Templeton view this development as a positive step, confident it will enhance bitcoin’s utility without diluting its core appeal as a store of value as purists or maximalists fear.

"I don’t think focusing on Bitcoin DeFi will dilute or complicate Bitcoin’s core narrative," Kevin Farrelly, managing principal of blockchain venture capital at Franklin Templeton and VP of Digital Assets, explained during his keynote speech at the Bitlayer side event this week. "Instead, it expands Bitcoin’s utility for a specific type of investor — one with enough technical sophistication to optimize for yield, security, or custom portfolio needs."