Franklin Templeton, the global asset management giant with $1.5 trillion in assets under management, has unveiled the Franklin Crypto Index ETF, a new exchange-traded fund that offers exposure to Bitcoin and Ether, the two largest cryptocurrencies by market.
According to a Feb. 20 press release, the fund, trading under the ticker EZPZ, tracks the CF Institutional Digital Asset Index, which currently allocates approximately 82% to Bitcoin and 18% to Ether, weighted by market capitalization.
The product may include other cryptocurrencies as “they become eligible for index inclusion,” said David Mann, Global Head of ETF Product and Capital Markets at Franklin Templeton. Franklin expects the ETF to become a benchmark for crypto investment products.
Here Come Deep Markets!
Launching the new crypto ETP, Franklin aims to make investing in cryptocurrency easier and more accessible to investors through a traditional investment vehicle like an ETF.
The sponsor fee, which covers the costs of managing the ETF, is waived for the first $10 billion in assets. After the waiver period ends, meaning the assets exceed $10 billion, Franklin will charge a 0.19% sponsor fee. This makes it an attractive option for investors looking to gain exposure to BTC and ETH.
The EZPZ fund doesn’t directly hold Bitcoin and Ether. It provides indirect exposure, meaning its value is tied to the price movements of these cryptocurrencies. Coinbase manages the secure custody of digital assets.
With the new offering, Franklin aims to position itself as a leader in offering cryptocurrency investment products. The EZPZ joins the growing list of Franklin’s digital asset ETPs, which already include the spot Bitcoin ETF (EZBC) and spot Ether ETF (EZET).
The launch comes after CBOE BZX Exchange, on behalf of Franklin Templeton, filed a 19b-4 form with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last September. The SEC acknowledged the filing on December 19 and briefly approved the Franklin Templeton Crypto Index ETF.
The SEC, on the same day, also greenlit Hashdex’s dual Bitcoin-Ethereum ETF, the Hashdex Nasdaq Crypto Index US ETF. Hashdex has recently been granted approval from Brazil’s Securities and Exchange Commission to list and trade its XRP ETF on the B3 exchange.
Franklin Templeton Eyes ETF Expansion in 2025
Franklin Templeton sees their ETFs as a way to bring crypto into the traditional finance (TradFi) world, making it more accessible to traditional investors. The California-based fund manager plans to expand their crypto index funds this year, considering offering ETFs that track a wider range of cryptocurrencies.
In a January interview, Roger Bayston, Head of Digital Assets at Franklin Templeton, said diversification will be the firm’s major theme in crypto investing in 2025.
Earlier this month, Franklin Templeton filed to establish the Franklin Solana Trust in Delaware, a move indicating that the firm will officially file for an ETF that directly holds SOL, currently ranked as the sixth largest cryptocurrency.
The firm has also recently launched its tokenized money market fund, the OnChain US Government Money Fund (FOBXX), on Solana. The fund is already present on seven other chains like Ethereum, Aptos, and Base.
Unlike some competitors who are actively seeking to offer diverse crypto ETFs, such as those linked to Dogecoin or XRP, Franklin is taking a methodical approach, researching and evaluating different crypto assets just as they do with traditional asset classes.
It might be something similar to BlackRock, but Larry Fink’s asset management giant is more skeptical when other crypto ETFs come into consideration.
While there is optimism in the crypto community regarding a Solana ETF, with some analysts predicting high chances of approval in the future, BlackRock sharpens its focus on Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs.
Jay Jacobs from BlackRock has stated that they are “scratching the surface,” focusing on building trust in cryptocurrency ETFs and attracting conservative and institutional investors.
It’s also about demand. Crypto ETFs outside of Bitcoin and Ether are not seen as having high demand at the moment, according to BlackRock. Plus Solana’s market maturity is also insufficient compared to the two leading digital assets.
