A key player in financial services has entered the race for approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF, joining industry peers such as BlackRock and Fidelity.
Managing assets totaling $1.4 trillion, the firm has joined the likes of BlackRock and Fidelity in seeking approval for a spot Bitcoin ETF, just weeks after Grayscale’s legal victory against the SEC.
With approximately $1.5 trillion in assets under management, the company has declared its plans to list a Bitcoin ETF on the Cboe BZX Exchange, part of the Franklin Templeton Digital Holdings Trust.
This ETF aims to mirror Bitcoin’s price performance before accounting for expenses, with its shares backed by Bitcoin held by Coinbase Custody Trust Company, acting as the fund’s custodian.
This filing is among several awaiting approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In April, Ark and 21Shares re-submitted for a spot Bitcoin ETF, preceding BlackRock’s similar announcement. BlackRock’s move prompted other issuers like Fidelity, Invesco, Bitwise, and more to renew their efforts.
Despite a longstanding desire to introduce a Bitcoin ETF directly to the US market, the SEC has not yet approved one for trading. Franklin Templeton’s filing comes shortly after Grayscale Investments successfully contested a case against the SEC in the DC Circuit Court of Appeals.
More details on that can be found here.
Franklin Templeton, recognized for its structured investment products like mutual funds and ETFs, is entering the Bitcoin ETF space for the first time, making its foray into this sector noteworthy.
The competition for a Bitcoin ETF in the US is intense, with other major contenders like BlackRock, WisdomTree, and Fidelity further along in the SEC’s regulatory process.
The regulator is anticipated to review these filings in mid-October, but historical bureaucratic delays suggest that a final decision may not be reached until March 2024.
