Franklin Templeton Plans to Launch Two Bitcoin ETFs With Dividend Reinvestment

Asset management giant Franklin Templeton has filed a Form 8-A with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to complete the Nasdaq listing registration for two new exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The prospectus indicates the funds will take effect on October 27, and the market widely expects them to start trading soon. The two products are the Franklin US Equity Bitcoin DRIP Index ETF (ticker: FBEQ) and the Franklin US Innovation Bitcoin DRIP Index ETF (ticker: FIBT). The former tracks the VettaFi US Large-Cap 500 Bitcoin DRIP Index, covering about 500 of the largest U.S. companies by market cap; the latter tracks the VettaFi US Innovation 100 Bitcoin DRIP Index, focusing on the 100 largest non-financial Nasdaq-listed companies. Both funds adopt a passive index strategy, with an initial asset allocation of approximately 95% U.S. equities and 5% Bitcoin exposure. The core mechanism of the products is "Bitcoin Dividend Reinvestment Plan (Bitcoin DRIP)". Unlike traditional dividend reinvestment plans, these two ETFs do not reinvest ordinary and special dividends from stocks back into the equities themselves. Instead, on the opening of the day after the ex-dividend date, the dividend cash is automatically used to increase Bitcoin-related exposure. Bitcoin exposure is primarily achieved through Bitcoin exchange-traded products (including Franklin’s own spot Bitcoin ETF EZBC), futures, options, or other related instruments; the funds do not directly hold on-chain Bitcoin. To control risks, the indices have clear rebalancing rules: if the Bitcoin weight exceeds 5% during quarterly rebalancing, it will be reduced to 4.5%; if the Bitcoin weight exceeds 20% during the rebalancing interval, it must be cut back to 4.5% within two trading days. The documents show FBEQ has a management fee of 0.09%, while FIBT’s is 0.19%, with neither charging 12b-1 fees.