Franklin Templeton Ventures into Ether ETF Race Amidst Crypto Market Developments
Summary:
Franklin Templeton, an asset manager worth trillions, has applied for an Ether-based ETF, aiming to use staking for additional income generation. The firm now competes with titans like BlackRock, Fidelity, and Grayscale for regulatory approval. In the meantime, Bakkt has received permission to increase capital by issuing more shares, and digital asset manager CoinShares reported a significant year-over-year recovery with profitable returns for Q4 2023. Franklin Templeton joins the Ether ETF race, Ripple acquires Standard Custody & Trust, Bakkt plans to sell securities, and CoinShares posts its Q4 earnings.
Financial giant Franklin Templeton, known for managing trillion-dollar assets, has applied for their first Ether-based exchange-traded fund (ETF), in a move similar to ARK 21Shares. The company aims to incorporate staking as a part of this ETF with the hope of generating further revenue, as disclosed in their Feb. 12 filing.
They now compete with industry titans like BlackRock, Fidelity, Grayscale and others, all vying for the green light from regulators. Crucial decisions on these matters are expected between May and August.
In other news, Bakkt has been permitted to increase its capital through the issuance of more shares for the next three years, a strategic move to counter their dwindling cash flow. Additionally, CoinShares, a leading digital asset investment manager, posted profitable returns for the final quarter of 2023, underlining a significant year-over-year recovery.
In this week’s Crypto Biz highlights, we summarize Franklin Templeton’s entry into the Ether ETF competition, Ripple's fresh acquisition, Bakkt's moves to sell securities, and the Q4 earnings of CoinShares.
Franklin Templeton has become the newest entrant in the race for a spot ETF based on Ether in the United States. Its application was submitted to the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission on Feb. 12. If successful, it will be listed as "Franklin Ethereum ETF" on the Chicago Board Options Exchange. Much like ARK 21Shares, Franklin has hinted at staking part of the ETF's assets to generate surplus income. This move has resulted in predictions of an expansion in the realm of crypto services following Franklin's recent commendation of Ethereum, Solana and other blockchain networks.
In its second such venture, Ripple now owns Standard Custody & Trust, a prominent digital asset custody provider in the U.S. This company carries out custody and escrow services under a charter sanctioned by the New York State Department of Financial Services. Standard had longstanding connections with Ripple at an executive level. Ripple, along with its allies, is licensed with a New York BitLicense and over 30 money transfer licenses across the U.S., the terms of the procurement were kept confidential.
Crypto enterprise, Bakkt, has gotten approval from regulators to amass up to $150 million via securities sales. This decision comes in the light of the firm’s recent worries about its financial statements. Bakkt has been permitted to light a "shelf registration", meaning it can intermittently sell new securities over a given period without the need for individual permissions. Aided by the approval, Bakkt aims to secure $150 million collectively over the course of the next three years via one or multiple offerings. Bakkt’s business revolves around crypto trading and custody services. A series of consecutive net losses throughout eight quarters since its initial public offering in October 2021 led the company to seek approval for raising additional capital.
Investment manager CoinShares has reported $108.5 million as annual revenue in its 2023 Q4 report. Their earnings before adjustment for interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) stood at about $32.51 million. The company demonstrated a considerable year-over-year recovery in 2023, in contrast to the negative $30.11 million EBITDA in Q4 of 2022, where the total profit was negative $46.94 million. CoinShares showed a 109% increase in assets under management to $3.8 billion for the year 2023, thanks to the revival in digital asset prices and their product inflows.
Lastly, Ethereum investor Ryan Berckmans predicts a potential peak at $27,000 for Ether in the present bull cycle. According to him, the limited selling pressure from miners since the Merge upgrade could be a major reason behind the potential surge.
Published At
2/17/2024 12:30:00 AM
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