Franklin Templeton, one of the leading asset management firms with $1.5 trillion in assets under management, has recently filed an application to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to launch a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) that would track the real-time price of Bitcoin. The SEC’s deadline for making a decision for this application is October 16th.
This move follows other asset management firms like Grayscale that have applied to offer crypto ETFs. On August 29th, the SEC was even mandated by the court to evaluate Grayscale’s application which sought to convert its Bitcoin futures ETF into a spot ETF.
Franklin Templeton’s proposed fund will function as a trust, with Coinbase serving as the custodian for Bitcoin holdings. Bank of New York Mellon will be the cash custodian and administrator, and shares of the fund will be traded on the Cboe BZX Exchange. The asset management firm is also planning to collaborate with CF Benchmarks, a digital asset index provider regulated in the United Kingdom, to ensure accurate valuation.
Franklin Templeton acknowledges the risks associated with such a venture in its application, and highlights the potential adverse impacts of legislative or regulatory developments. This includes bans or restrictions that could potentially affect various aspects of the cryptocurrency ecosystem such as trading, mining, digital wallets, custody services, and the general operation of the Bitcoin network.
At the time of writing, the price of Bitcoin was trading at $25,952.26, showing the ever-changing nature of the digital asset market that Franklin Templeton seeks to tap into with its proposed Bitcoin ETF.
