Franklin Templeton's two Bitcoin DRIP ETFs, FBEQ and FIBT, have become effective, clearing the key regulatory step before launch on Nasdaq. The funds put stock dividends into Bitcoin, but the issuer has not announced a launch date.
Franklin Templeton's two Bitcoin Dividend Reinvestment Plan ETFs have become effective, according to the latest SEC filing. The $1.8 trillion asset manager is set to launch funds that systematically reinvest stock dividends into Bitcoin.
Two funds, two indexes
The N-1A registration statement for the Franklin US Equity Bitcoin DRIP Index ETF and the Franklin US Innovation Bitcoin DRIP Index ETF has become effective. Nasdaq approved the funds to list and trade under the tickers FBEQ and FIBT.
FBEQ will track the VettaFi US Large Cap 500 Bitcoin DRIP Index and carry a management fee of 0.09%. FIBT will track the VettaFi US Innovation 100 Bitcoin DRIP Index and charge 0.19%. Both start with 95% in US stocks and 5% in Bitcoin.
All regular and special dividends go into Bitcoin. If the Bitcoin allocation exceeds 5%, the exposure drops to 4.5% during quarterly rebalancing.
No launch date yet
The issuer has not announced a specific target launch date, and the shares can trade once listed on Nasdaq. The prospectuses note that the SEC has neither approved nor disapproved the ETFs.
Nate Geraci, co-founder of The ETF Institute, called the structure "smart product design by Franklin Templeton. Easy way for everyday investors to gain BTC exposure." He noted that it offers a passive way to accumulate limited Bitcoin exposure funded entirely by equity dividends.
Meanwhile, BTC price jumped towards $81,500 on the day, with a 24-hour low of $79,494 and a high of $81,635. Trading volume dropped almost 10% ahead of the Fed rate decision later that day.
Source: CoinGape
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