Global investment firm Franklin Templeton filed for a spot bitcoin exchange traded fund (ETF) with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Tuesday, joining BlackRock, Fidelity and others in seeking to start the first bitcoin ETF.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Franklin Templeton, a $1.45 trillion asset manager, has filed for a bitcoin ETF with the SEC for the first time.
- Coinbase has been chosen to act as the custodian for the bitcoin held by the fund; however, a reference rate from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) will be used for pricing.
- The move from Franklin Templeton follows similar applications from other financial titans, such as BlackRock and Fidelity, as the crypto market eagerly awaits the potential approval of a spot bitcoin ETF.
The spot bitcoin ETF filing from Franklin Templeton has terms similar to those seen in recent applications from other major players in traditional finance. According to the filing, Coinbase (COIN) will act as the custodian of the bitcoin held by the fund. Additionally, the ETF is to be traded on Cboe BZX Exchange and will use the CME’s CF Bitcoin Reference Rate–New York Variant for pricing.
Notably, this is the first attempt by Franklin Templeton, which has roughly $1.45 trillion worth of assets under management, to create a bitcoin ETF product. This is also notable as Franklin Templeton CEO Jenny Johnson has said in the past that “bitcoin is the greatest distraction from the greatest disruption in financial services, which is blockchain.”
Will Spot Bitcoin ETFs See The Light Of Day?
The Franklin Templeton filing follows a wave of new spot bitcoin ETF filings that was kicked off by BlackRock (BLK) in June. Excitement has been building around the potential approval of a spot bitcoin ETF since then due to BlackRock’s reputation and pivotal role in the U.S. financial system. In addition to BlackRock, Fidelity and VanEck have also submitted their own, similar applications. Decisions on these spot bitcoin ETFs and others have been delayed by the SEC until October.
Recently, digital asset firm Grayscale scored a victory in their appeal over the SEC’s decision to not allow the Bitcoin Investment Trust (GBTCUSD) to be turned into a full-fledged ETF. While the SEC must now clarify their reasons for rejecting the transition of GBTC to an ETF, the court ruling does not necessarily mean the change or other ETFs will now be approved.
“We’re still reviewing that decision,” SEC Chair Gary Gensler said of the Grayscale ruling at a hearing of the Senate Banking Committee hearing this morning.
“We have multiple filings around bitcoin exchange-traded products,” Gensler said, “we’re reviewing them and I’m looking forward to staff’s recommendations.”
