Franklin Templeton’s proposed exchange-traded funds would channel stock dividends into Bitcoin (BTC)-related investments, a structure Scott Melker said may make crypto exposure more acceptable to ordinary investors.
The Franklin US Equity Bitcoin DRIP Index ETF (FBEQ) and Franklin US Innovation Bitcoin DRIP Index ETF (FIBT) would track separate VettaFi indexes. Each index would begin with 95% equities and 5% Bitcoin exposure.
The index methodology directs regular and special dividends from companies in the indexes to Bitcoin-related investments.
The prospectus permits derivatives or depositary receipts to supply Bitcoin exposure; the index process would reinvest dividends without distributing Bitcoin directly to fund shareholders.
Each dividend allocation would take effect at the market’s opening session following that stock’s ex-dividend date.
On Yahoo Finance’s The Daily Wolf on Oct. 26, Melker pointed to Franklin Templeton’s products as an example of blending crypto with conventional holdings. He said the model could prompt competing issuers to create similar funds.
Franklin Templeton ETF Trust filed a Form 8-A with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Oct. 22, identifying both proposed fund names. It separately filed a post-effective amendment that day, scheduled to take effect Oct. 27. Franklin has named Nasdaq as the planned exchange for both funds, as described in EconoTimes’ earlier coverage of the Nasdaq designation.
