Franklin Templeton filed paperwork with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on June 18 to launch two exchange-traded funds that would hold US stocks and automatically reinvest dividends into Bitcoin exposure.
The proposed funds are the Franklin US Equity Bitcoin DRIP Index ETF and the Franklin US Innovation Bitcoin DRIP Index ETF. They would track benchmarks from VettaFi and maintain a starting allocation of 95 percent in large-cap US equities and 5 percent in Bitcoin-related assets.
Dividends from the stocks would be reinvested the day after the ex-date into Bitcoin instruments, including exchange-traded products, futures, or holdings through a Cayman Islands subsidiary. Quarterly reviews would cap Bitcoin exposure at 5 percent, with an emergency trim if it exceeds 20 percent.
The filing comes as US spot Bitcoin ETFs have drawn more than $53 billion in net inflows since their 2024 launch. BlackRock recently introduced a separate Bitcoin income ETF that uses options to generate premiums.
Franklin Templeton already manages the Franklin Bitcoin ETF under the ticker EZBC. The new products would offer investors equity exposure with gradual Bitcoin accumulation through corporate payouts rather than direct purchases.
