Franklin Templeton Files for Spot Ethereum ETF

Franklin Templeton, a renowned asset manager with $1.5 trillion in assets, has become the latest firm to apply for a spot Ethereum exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States. On Feb. 12, the asset manager submitted the S-1 filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) four weeks after the company’s Bitcoin (BTC) ETF launch.

According to the filing, the ETF would be listed as “Franklin Ethereum ETF” on the Chicago Board Options Exchange after approval. Franklin Templeton identified Coinbase Custody as its Ether custodian and Bank of New York Mellon as its administrator, cash custodian, and transfer agent. 

Franklin Templeton also plans to stake a portion of the ETF’s Ether with trustworthy staking providers, which may include the sponsor’s affiliates. The company will receive Ether tokens in return for participating in staking.

The filing read:

“The Sponsor may, from time to time, stake a portion of the Fund’s assets through one or more trusted staking providers, which may include an affiliate of the Sponsor.”

Franklin Templeton joins many other big asset managers seeking approval for spot Ether ETFs, including Galaxy Digital, ARK 21Shares, Hashdex, Fidelity, BlackRock, VanEck, and Grayscale. Approval would grant mainstream investors easy access to Ether investments via brokerage accounts without holding the crypto directly. However, the SEC has repeatedly postponed decisions on spot crypto ETFs due to concerns regarding liquidity, volatility, and potential for manipulation.

Franklin Templeton just joined the spot #Ethereum ETF race. pic.twitter.com/zJvk9seXe3

— James Seyffart (@JSeyff) February 12, 2024

One Polymarket prediction market predicts a 48% chance that a spot Ethereum ETF will be approved in May this year. JP Morgan analyst Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou foresees a 50% chance of approval in May, whereas James Seyffart expects 60% odds.

Franklin Bitcoin ETF 

Franklin was one of the 10 ETF issuers that launched a spot BTC ETF in the United States last month. While asset management giants like Fidelity and BlackRock have seen great demand for their Bitcoin funds, Franklin’s Bitcoin ETF has experienced a more modest start, attracting about $70 million in inflows since its launch. In contrast, Fidelity’s Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) and BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) have seen inflows exceeding $3 billion and $3.5 billion, respectively, over the past month.

Franklin Templeton has made several pushes into crypto in recent years under the leadership of CEO Jenny Johnson, who took control of the company in 2020. Most recently, on social media platform X, the company put “laser eyes” on its logo, demonstrating its willingness to engage with the growing crypto culture.

The price of Ethereum climbed 5.6% in the last 24 hours, trading near $2,630, while Bitcoin hit $50,000 on Monday for the first time since late 2021.