On September 12, asset management Franklin Templeton filed an application with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to launch a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF).

The S-1 registration statement comes after the SEC delayed decisions on spot ETF applications from WisdomTree, Valkyrie, Fidelity, VanEck, Bitwise, and Invesco on Aug. 31, as well as a court ruling on Aug. 29 requiring the SEC to consider Grayscale's application to convert its Bitcoin (BTC) futures ETF into a spot ETF.

The fund would be set up as a trust, according to the application. The BTC would be held by Coinbase, while the cash would be held by Bank of New York Mellon. Shares of the fund would be traded on the Cboe BZX Exchange. The SEC's next deadline for making a decision on the application is October 16.

Franklin Templeton cited regulatory uncertainty as a concern in its application:

“Digital asset markets in the U.S. exist in a state of regulatory uncertainty, and adverse legislative or regulatory developments could significantly harm the value of bitcoin or the Shares, such as by banning, restricting or imposing onerous conditions or prohibitions on the use of bitcoins, mining activity, digital wallets, the provision of services related to trading and custodying bitcoin, the operation of the Bitcoin network, or the digital asset markets generally."

CF Benchmarks, a digital asset index provider based in the United Kingdom, would give daily valuations based on the Coinbase, Bitstamp, iBit, Kraken, Gemini, and LMAX Digital exchanges. Trades would be indexed every five minutes.

Sources:

https://cointelegraph.com/news/franklin-templeton-files-bitcoin-spot-etf

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1992870/000113743923001074/ftdhts1092023.htm