Franklin Templeton has filed an amended S-1 form with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for its spot Ethereum ETF application. This move positions Franklin Templeton among several financial institutions aiming to offer investors exposure to Ethereum without directly purchasing the cryptocurrency.
The amended filing, submitted on Friday, outlines a 0.19% sponsor fee for the proposed Ethereum ETF, mirroring the fee structure for Franklin Templeton’s spot Bitcoin ETF (EZBC), set to launch in August as the most cost-effective option among its competitors. Initially, the firm will not charge a fee for investing in its spot Bitcoin ETF.
Eric Balchunas, Senior ETF Analyst at Bloomberg, remarked on the competitive fee structure, stating, “The opening shot in the Eth ETF fee war has been fired from Franklin, 19bps,” in a post to X.
The SEC had previously instructed potential spot Ethereum ETF issuers to submit their amended S-1 forms by Friday. While the filings are now in, the forms may take several weeks to become effective and for the new financial products to commence trading.
Following the initial approval of spot Ethereum ETF applications last week, VanEck and BlackRock swiftly filed their amended S-1 forms, with BlackRock disclosing a $10 million seed investment for its ETF.
According to The Block Data Dashboard, Franklin Templeton’s spot Bitcoin ETF currently manages approximately $350 million in assets.