Franklin Templeton Applies to Launch an Ethereum ETF
Franklin Templeton has recently applied for a United States-listed Ether exchange-traded fund, joining other major Wall Street firms in this pursuit.
The firm, which manages $1.5 trillion dollars in assets, submitted a filing with the United States Securities Exchange Commission on February 12, stating its interest in launching the “Franklin Ethereum ETF” on the Chicago Board Options Exchange.
Interestingly, Franklin has also expressed its intention to stake a portion of the ETF’s assets through trusted providers, such as an affiliate of the Sponsor, in order to generate additional income. This approach is similar to that of ARK 21Shares, who also filed a revised S-1 last week outlining their plans for staking.
According to the filing, Franklin plans to stake Ether from the trust’s cold storage wallets, and any staking rewards received will be considered as income for the trust.
Other major players on Wall Street, such as BlackRock, VanEck, Fidelity, Invesco Galaxy, Grayscale, and Hashdex, have also applied for spot Ether ETFs and are currently waiting for approval from the SEC.
