Franklin Templeton just filed for two ETFs that do something no fund has done before: take the dividends your stocks generate and use them to buy Bitcoin instead of more shares.
The asset manager submitted registration statements with the SEC on June 19 for the Franklin US Equity Bitcoin DRIP Index ETF and the Franklin US Innovation Bitcoin DRIP Index ETF. Both target an effective launch date of September 1, 2026.
How the DRIP mechanism works
DRIP stands for Dividend Reinvestment Plan, a well-established concept in traditional finance. Normally, a DRIP takes the cash dividends your holdings spit out and uses them to buy more of the same stock or fund.
Franklin’s version rewires that plumbing. Instead of recycling dividends back into equities, these funds route all dividend income directly into Bitcoin exposure.
