Franklin Templeton Files for ETFs That Funnel Stock Dividends Into Bitcoin - Decrypt

Franklin Templeton Files for ETFs That Funnel Stock Dividends Into Bitcoin

Global asset manager Franklin Templeton filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission Thursday to launch two exchange-traded funds that reinvest dividends into Bitcoin .

The Franklin U.S. Equity Bitcoin DRIP Index ETF and the Franklin U.S. Innovation Bitcoin DRIP Index ETF each hold a basket of U.S. stocks, a VettaFi U.S. large-cap 500 index for one and a VettaFi U.S. innovation 100 index for the other, then systematically reinvest the dividends those companies pay into Bitcoin, rather than back into the shares.

The "DRIP" in the funds’ name riffs on the dividend reinvestment plans long used to compound stock holdings and here repurposed to accumulate Bitcoin. Each underlying index starts with a 5% Bitcoin weighting and 95% equities, per the filing, with Bitcoin exposure capped at 20% and trimmed back at quarterly rebalances.

The funds would gain that exposure through crypto exchange-traded products, including Bitcoin ETPs sponsored by Franklin Templeton affiliates, along with options and futures, and in some cases through a wholly-owned subsidiary in the Cayman Islands. VettaFi maintains the indices.

The filing is preliminary. It lists no fees yet, and under the rule Franklin used, the funds could take effect around 75 days later, putting a potential launch in early September..

The funds would join a stampede of crypto ETF launches. After the SEC published generic listing standards for crypto-linked funds in late 2025, issuers rushed product to market . Bitwise has predicted more than 100 such ETFs could launch in 2026, and Bloomberg Intelligence's James Seyffart counted well over 100 filings in the pipeline at the end of last year, with issuers "throwing A LOT of product at the wall."

Much of that wave has moved beyond plain spot exposure, where BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust dominates with tens of billions in assets, toward funds competing on structure and yield. Issuers have rolled out covered-call income products like BlackRock's newly launched iShares Bitcoin Premium Income ETF, alongside other structured wrappers , with Franklin's dividend-into-Bitcoin design the latest variation on the theme.

The ETF filings extend an aggressive push into digital assets for Franklin Templeton. The firm runs its own spot Bitcoin ETF, and this year launched a dedicated Franklin Crypto division through its acquisition of CoinFund spinoff 250 Digital, and struck a tokenization partnership with Kraken parent Payward . Its BENJI tokenized money-market funds now run across several blockchains.

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