Franklin Templeton Seeks SEC Approval for Dividend-to-Bitcoin ETFs

Franklin Templeton has submitted applications to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for two novel exchange-traded funds (ETFs). These products would convert dividend payments from equities directly into bitcoin holdings.

The asset manager filed registration documents on Thursday for the Franklin US Equity Bitcoin DRIP Index ETF and the Franklin US Innovation Bitcoin DRIP Index ETF.

Each product maintains 95% of assets in U.S. large-capitalization stocks and 5% in bitcoin. Instead of distributing dividends to shareholders as cash payments, these proceeds are automatically deployed to acquire bitcoin exposure.

The first product follows the VettaFi US Large-Cap 500 Bitcoin DRIP Index, offering exposure to the broader equity market. The second concentrates on growth-oriented and innovative companies using a corresponding index variation.