Franklin Templeton, the $1.78 trillion asset management firm, is attempting to push cryptocurrency deeper into conventional investment portfolios with a new proposal that would automatically redirect stock dividends into Bitcoin exposure.
On June 18, the asset manager filed paperwork with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to launch two exchange-traded funds that would hold US equities while filtering corporate payouts into digital asset investments.
The proposed funds, the Franklin US Equity Bitcoin DRIP Index ETF and the Franklin US Innovation Bitcoin DRIP Index ETF, would combine one of Wall Street’s most established practices, dividend reinvestment, with exposure to the world’s largest cryptocurrency.
Franklin Templeton new ETFs would convert US companies stock dividends into Bitcoin exposure
Franklin Templeton’s dividend-funded proposal follows BlackRock’s income-focused Bitcoin ETF as issuers search for the next product category.
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Franklin Templeton filed two ETFs that would buy US stocks and reinvest dividends into Bitcoin-linked assets.
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The design blends equity exposure with automated Bitcoin accumulation, targeting investors who prefer familiar ETF wrappers over direct crypto.
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SEC approval, fees, tickers, and launch timing remain undisclosed, while tax and Bitcoin volatility risks could force changes.
The structure would give investors a primary base in large US stocks while using income generated by those companies to slowly accumulate Bitcoin-linked assets. That design avoids requiring investors to make a direct upfront allocation to crypto, instead building the position over time through a rules-based mechanism.
This filing reflects how major financial institutions are looking beyond standard spot Bitcoin funds and toward more complex portfolio products.
After the first wave of US spot Bitcoin ETFs solved the basic access problem, issuers are now experimenting with strategies that wrap the asset inside income, options, and allocation frameworks familiar to financial advisers and brokerage investors.
Notably, Franklin already operates in the digital asset market through the Franklin Bitcoin ETF, which trades under the ticker EZBC. The fund has attracted about $330 million in cumulative net inflows and manages roughly $360 million in assets, giving the firm a foothold in a category dominated by larger rivals.
The new filing suggests Franklin is seeking a more specialized lane. Rather than compete only through a spot Bitcoin wrapper, the firm is proposing a product that could appeal to investors who are comfortable with equity ETFs but less willing to buy Bitcoin directly.
Dividends become the Bitcoin entry point
The two proposed ETFs would function as passive index trackers built around VettaFi benchmarks.
The Franklin US Equity Bitcoin DRIP Index ETF would seek to mirror the VettaFi US Large-Cap 500 Bitcoin DRIP Index. Its equity portfolio would be tied to the 500 largest US companies by market capitalization.
The Franklin US Innovation Bitcoin DRIP Index ETF would track the VettaFi US Innovation 100 Bitcoin DRIP Index, targeting the 100 largest non-financial companies listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market.