Franklin Templeton, a prominent Wall Street firm, has submitted an application to create an Ether (ETH) exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States. The $1.5 trillion asset management firm filed the necessary paperwork, known as an S-1 filing, with the United States Securities Exchange Commission on February 12. If approved, the ETF would be listed as “Franklin Ethereum ETF” on the Chicago Board Options Exchange.
What sets Franklin Templeton’s application apart is its intention to stake a portion of the ETF’s Ether in order to generate additional income. This strategy is similar to the revised filing made by ARK 21Shares last week. Franklin plans to stake Ether from the trust’s cold storage wallets, which would then result in staking rewards treated as income.
Franklin Templeton is not the only firm vying for SEC approval for a spot Ether ETF. BlackRock, VanEck, Fidelity, Invesco Galaxy, Grayscale, and Hashdex have also submitted applications. The SEC has specific decision deadlines for each applicant, with VanEck’s application due by May 23, ARK 21Shares by May 24, Hashdex by May 30, Grayscale by June 18, and Invesco by July 5. Fidelity and BlackRock’s applications must be decided by August 3 and August 7, respectively.
Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart predicts that a decision will be made on all applicants by May 23, drawing a parallel to the SEC’s decision on spot Bitcoin ETFs on January 10. Another Bloomberg ETF analyst, Eric Balchunas, recently adjusted the odds of a spot Ether ETF approval in 2024 from 70% to 60% on January 30.
Although Franklin Templeton entered the spot Ether ETF race relatively late, the firm has expressed admiration for the network fundamentals of Ethereum, Solana, and other blockchains. This has led to speculation that the ETF issuer may expand its offerings beyond Bitcoin.
In other news, a magazine has highlighted how “account abstraction” can supercharge Ethereum wallets, providing a useful guide for beginners.