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- Asset manager – Franklin Templeton joined its competitors in filing for a Bitcoin spot ETF
- Gensler claimed the committee was still reviewing the submitted applications during the Senate hearing on September 12
The stakes of having a Bitcoin spot ETF in the United States increase as asset manager Franklin Templeton joins the race. The company filed a filing with the Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC) on Tuesday, September 12. With this step, the investment manager joined companies such as BlackRock and Fidelity.
Read Bitcoin’s [BTC] Price forecast 2023-2024
The filing specifically stated that Bank of New York Mellon would act as custodian of its cash. Additionally, it will be listed and traded on the Cboe BZX Exchange. Meanwhile, leading US crypto exchange Coinbase would act as custodian of Bitcoin for the company. The declaration too read,
“The Fund’s assets consist primarily of bitcoin held by a custodian on behalf of the Fund. The Fund aims to reflect the performance of the price of bitcoin generally. The Fund aims to reflect such performance before paying the Fund’s expenses.”
Interestingly, the investment manager giant’s filing comes days after the SEC delayed making a decision on spot Bitcoin ETF applications. The committee has postponed the decision on a total of six applications. These applications were from Blackrock, Fidelity, Invesco Galaxy, Valkyrie, VanEck and WisdomTree. The next development on these applications will appear next month, around mid-October.
SEC chairman speaks about Bitcoin spot ETF
The head of the SEC – Gary Gensler – spoke during the Senate Banking Committee hearing on September 12 about his views on the crypto market and the state of Bitcoin ETFs. Gensler proclaimed that the crypto market was “rife with fraud, abuse and misconduct,” adding that there was currently “significant non-compliance.”
On the Bitcoin spot ETFs, Senator Bill Hagerty brought up the SEC’s loss in the legal battle against digital asset management company Grayscale. In this case, the court ordered the committee to reconsider its decision to reject the conversion of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust into a Bitcoin spot ETF.
Sen. Haggerty asked Gensler, “What should you see in the spot ETF application?”. To this Gensler declared that the committee was still revising its grayscale decision. He also stated that the same was true for the multiple Bitcoin spot ETF applications, adding that he looked forward to the staff’s recommendation.