Investment firm Franklin Templeton filed Form S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday, proposing a new exchange-traded fund (ETF) that would hold both bitcoin and ether and trade under the ticker EZPZ.
The ETF, called the Franklin Crypto Index ETF, would initially hold an as-yet-unspecified allocation of Bitcoin and Ether, weighted by the market capitalization of each digital asset. The proposed fund would use Coinbase as its digital asset custodian.
According to the S-1 filing, the fund could add additional digital assets to its ETF in the future if it receives regulatory approval. Cboe BZX, the exchange that also trades Franklin Templeton’s EZPZ, filed a form in July seeking regulatory approval for an ETF that holds Solana, but some cryptocurrency experts have expressed skepticism that a Solana ETF could be approved under the current political administration.
Franklin-Templeton’s filing follows Hashdex’s filing, which filed its own S-1 for a similarly structured ETF on July 24, two days after a spot Ethereum ETF received approval to begin trading. The SEC recently postponed its decision on Hashdex’s filing. The agency gave it until September 30, 2024, to take action on the proposed rule change.
Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet providing news, research and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is the largest investor in The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the cryptocurrency space. Cryptocurrency exchange Bitget is an anchor LP of Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to provide objective, impactful and timely information on the cryptocurrency industry. Below are the current financial disclosures.
© 2024 The Block. All rights reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not provided or intended to be legal, tax, investment, financial or other advice.