Franklin Templeton, a $1.5 trillion asset management firm, has submitted an S-1 filing with the United States Securities Exchange Commission on Feb. 12 to launch a spot Ether exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the U.S.
The proposed ETF, named “Franklin Ethereum ETF,” plans to stake a portion of its Ether holdings to generate additional income. This strategy aligns with similar approaches outlined in ARK 21Shares’ revised S-1 filing.
Franklin Templeton joins several other firms, including BlackRock, VanEck, Fidelity, Invesco Galaxy, Grayscale, and Hashdex, in applying for spot Ether ETF approval from the SEC. The SEC must decide on various applicants’ applications by specific deadlines, with Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart anticipating decisions to be made by May 23.
While the approval of a spot Ether ETF remains uncertain, analyst Eric Balchunas has adjusted the odds of approval from 70% to 60% for 2024. Seyffart expects decisions to be made on all applicants by May 23, following a similar pattern observed with spot Bitcoin ETFs in January.
Although Franklin Templeton entered the spot Ether ETF race relatively late, it has previously lauded the network fundamentals of Ethereum, Solana, and other blockchains. This acknowledgment suggests potential future expansion beyond Bitcoin for the ETF issuer.
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