Franklin Templeton Files Two Nasdaq ETFs That Route Dividends to Bitcoin

Franklin Templeton registered two exchange-traded funds for Nasdaq trading that pair US equities with Bitcoin, directing stock dividends into the cryptocurrency rather than back into shares. According to Coincentral, the Franklin US Equity Bitcoin DRIP Index ETF would trade as FBEQ and the Franklin US Innovation Bitcoin DRIP Index ETF as FIBT, both detailed in a Form 8-A registration dated October 22.

The structure is a 95/5 split at inception: conventional stock holdings plus a Bitcoin sleeve. Neither fund had begun trading as of the filings, and Franklin Templeton has not stated a first trading date.

Key facts

• The October 22 Form 8-A registers shares of FBEQ and FIBT on Nasdaq, with a prospectus filed the same day carrying an effective date of October 27, per Bitcoinmagazine.
• FBEQ carries a 0.09% annual management fee and FIBT 0.19%, each with a 5% starting Bitcoin allocation and 95% in equities.
• Regular and special dividends are moved into the index’s Bitcoin allocation on the trading day after the ex-dividend date.
• At quarterly rebalancing, a Bitcoin weight above 5% is cut to 4.5%; a separate rule trims to 4.5% if exposure passes 20% between reviews, within two business days.
• Franklin originally filed the strategy in June without tickers or fees, then amended the registration in August, September and October, Crypto.news reported.

Two indexes, two risk profiles

Coincentral notes that FBEQ tracks a VettaFi index built on large US companies, while FIBT follows an innovation index of 100 companies with heavier technology exposure. Crypto.news describes the equity benchmark as a large-cap universe of 500 major American companies and the innovation benchmark as 100 names drawn from an innovation-oriented universe. Bitcoinmagazine reports that the equity index held 499 stocks as of September 30, sized from $10.2 billion to $5.5 trillion, concentrated in information technology.

The Bitcoin position is not held on-chain. Per Bitcoinmagazine, exposure comes through Bitcoin exchange-traded products, including Franklin’s own spot fund, futures, options or depositary receipts, sometimes via a Cayman Islands subsidiary. Crypto.news identifies VettaFi as index provider and lists portfolio managers Dina Ting, Hailey Harris, Joe Diederich and Basit Amin, with Franklin Advisory Services as manager and Franklin Templeton Institutional as sub-adviser; those manager names appear in the Bitcoinmagazine report, not in Coincentral.

The reports diverge on framing. Bitcoinmagazine called the October 22 Form 8-A the last regulatory step before launch, while Coincentral and Crypto.news stress that registration of securities under the Exchange Exchange Act does not confirm trading has started or that investors can buy shares. None of the filings constitute SEC approval or endorsement of the products.

Why it matters

Franklin’s design turns dividend income from ordinary stock portfolios into a recurring Bitcoin purchase, giving retirement-style equity investors indirect exposure without a crypto exchange account or self-custody. ETF analyst Nate Geraci, cited by Crypto.news, likened it to owning S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 exposure with dividends going to Bitcoin, calling it “smart product design.” It extends Franklin’s existing crypto lineup, which includes a spot Bitcoin fund and a combined Bitcoin-and-Ether index product, adding an equity component. The timing is notable: Coincentral reports US spot Bitcoin funds shed $635.6 million on October 22 and another $137.9 million on October 23.

What to watch

The prospectus’s October 27 effective date is the nearest marker, and any confirmation from Franklin Templeton on a first trading day. Flows data for spot Bitcoin ETFs will show whether demand is recovering as the new funds come online.

This article is not financial advice; cryptocurrency markets are volatile and prices can move sharply.

Disclaimer: This article is for information only and is not investment, financial or trading advice. Cryptocurrency prices are highly volatile. Always do your own research.

Sources: CoinCentral, Crypto.news, Bitcoinmagazine