Traditional Finance’s (TradFi) interest in the crypto industry continues to grow as one of the world’s largest asset managers, Franklin Templeton, has joined the Spot Bitcoin ETF race following its application with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Templeton Joins ETF Race

Templeton becomes the twelfth financial institution to apply to offer a Spot Bitcoin ETF, joining the likes of fellow asset managers BlackRock, ARK Invest, Grayscale, and WisdomTree. 

Like others, Templeton, which boasts a portfolio of over $1.4 trillion in assets under management (AuM), is seeking to offer institutional investors the opportunity to invest directly in the flagship cryptocurrency, Bitcoin. 

According to the company’s filing, if approved, the “Franklin Bitcoin ETF” (the fund is yet to be assigned a ticker as none was mentioned in the filing) will be listed and traded on the Cboe BZX Exchange. Meanwhile, the crypto exchange Coinbase will act as custodian of the fund’s Bitcoin holdings. This is in line with some applicants who have also chosen the largest crypto exchange in the US to be their crypto custodian. 

However, unlike other applicants, Templeton’s application still has a long way to go in the bureaucratic process of the SEC, as the Commission will first have to list this application in the Federal Register in recognition of it before it proceeds. The overall review process has a 240-day window for the regulator to approve or deny the application. 

Most applicants have already passed the first 45-day deadline, with the Commission choosing to delay its decision on the ETF applications of BlackRock, WisdomTree, Invesco, Fidelity, Valkyrie, VanEck, and Bitwise. The SEC’s next deadline for any of these applications is October 16, when it must decide on Bitwise’s application. However, the Commission can choose to delay its decision once again. 

Bitcoin Is Not A Scam

Following Templeton’s application, the President of ETF Store, Nate Geraci, stated that unlike many who think Bitcoin is a scam, some of the world’s largest asset managers “believe it’s worth their time.”

He suggested that the mere interest of these institutions should pique people’s attention and curiosity rather than the continued skepticism about whether or not cryptocurrencies are here to stay.

He pointed out that his statement wasn’t about the effect that this institutional interest could have on Bitcoin’s price. Instead, one should be curious about why these asset managers are getting involved. 

Meanwhile, the former CEO and co-founder of crypto exchange BitMEX, Arthur Hayes, seems to have an answer as to why these asset managers are getting involved in Bitcoin. He previously mentioned that these companies want to become the “crypto gatekeepers” and have total control over the industry when cryptocurrencies gain mainstream adoption.