CONTRIBUTORS

Sandy Kaul
Head of Innovation
Franklin Templeton

Mike Reed
Digital Assets Strategic Partnerships
Franklin Templeton Digital Assets

Lexi Perry
Portfolio Associate
Franklin Templeton Digital Assets
Key takeaways
Investors throughout history search for ways to invest at the early stages of new businesses, ideas and investment opportunities. We believe that new blockchain and smart contract-based technologies, and the protocol-based networks they enable, might represent a significant new business opportunity that has the potential to change existing business models and revamp how investors think about and hold their assets. These innovations originated from the introduction of bitcoin, the first digital currency and the platform that introduced blockchain technologies to the world.
“Web3” business models that have emerged since bitcoin’s innovation are paving the way to a new type of network economy and approach to commercial transactions, creating a protocol-based economy that encourages democratized ownership and rewards participation. This compares to today’s “Web2” platform-based economy where companies, not participants, own and control both the networks and the data they generate, centrally retaining the benefits being generated by those individuals and enterprises that drive the platform’s network effects.
The protocol-based economy that is beginning to emerge has new ways of creating, programming and building applications. The composability of this approach is allowing for new types of interoperability that might allow all asset owners to do more and obtain more liquidity and benefit from their holdings. Over time, we believe that these protocol- based networks will gain market share and that public blockchains might become global utilities that participants all over the world use to facilitate trade and engagement.
Because of its dominance and the tendency of other coins in the space to follow the performance of bitcoin, adding bitcoin to a traditional portfolio can provide exposure to the innovation and future potential of the entire ecosystem and allow an investor to benefit from partnerships forged with digital asset innovators from the protocol-economy with traditional companies or governments.
This paper will explore the investment thesis that we see supporting an allocation to bitcoin as well as model the asset’s performance quantitatively to help investors understand how including bitcoin in a portfolio may affect their investments, looking at the correlations, volatility, performance and risk-adjusted excess returns available historically from the asset. It will also lay out the benefits and potential risks of using the newly introduced spot bitcoin ETF products.
This paper covers:
- The case for bitcoin
- Bitcoin’s value proposition in a “modern” portfolio
- Using spot bitcoin ETFs as an access vehicle
WHAT ARE THE RISKS?
All investments involve risks, including possible loss of principal.
Before you invest, for more complete information about the Fund and this offering, you should carefully read the Fund’s prospectus.
The Fund is not an investment company registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (1940 Act), and therefore is not subject to the same regulatory requirements as mutual funds or ETFs registered under the 1940 Act. The Fund is not a commodity pool for purposes of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and accordingly is not subject to the regulatory protections afforded by the CEA.
The Fund holds only bitcoin and cash and is not suitable for all investors. The Fund is not a diversified investment and, therefore, is expected to be more volatile than other investments, such as an investment in a more broadly diversified portfolio. An investment in the Fund is not intended as a complete investment plan.
An investment in the Fund is subject to market risk with respect to the digital asset markets. The trading price of the bitcoin held by the Fund may go up and down, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably. The value of the Fund’s Shares relates directly to the value of bitcoins, which has been in the past, and may continue to be, highly volatile and subject to fluctuations due to a number of factors. Extreme volatility in the future, including substantial, sustained or rapid declines in the trading prices of bitcoin, could have a material adverse effect on the value of the Shares and the Shares could lose all or substantially all of their value.
Competitive pressures may negatively affect the ability of the Fund to garner substantial assets and achieve commercial success.
Digital assets represent a new and rapidly evolving industry, and the value of the Fund’s Shares depends on the acceptance of bitcoin. Due to the unregulated nature and lack of transparency surrounding the operations of digital asset exchanges, which may experience fraud, manipulation, security failures or operational problems, as well as the wider bitcoin market, the value of bitcoin and, consequently, the value of the Shares may be adversely affected, causing losses to Shareholders.
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.
The Index price used to calculate the value of the Fund’s bitcoin has a limited performance history and may be volatile, adversely affecting the value of the Shares. Moreover, the Index Administrator could experience system failures or errors. Errors in the Index data, computations and/or construction may occur from time to time and may not be identified and/or corrected for a period of time or at all, which may have an adverse impact on the Fund and the Shareholders.
A temporary or permanent “fork” could adversely affect the value of the Shares. Shareholders should not expect to receive the benefits of any forks or “airdrops.”
The Fund is a passive investment vehicle and is not actively managed, meaning it does not manage its portfolio to sell bitcoin at times when its price is high, or acquire bitcoin at low prices in the expectation of future price increases. Also, the Fund does not use any hedging techniques to attempt to reduce the risks of losses resulting from bitcoin price decreases. The Fund is not a leveraged product and does not utilize leverage, derivatives or similar instruments or transactions. The Fund’s Shares are not interests or obligations of the Fund’s Sponsor or its affiliates, and are not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency.
The amount of bitcoin represented by each Share will decrease over the life of the Fund due to the sales of bitcoin necessary to pay the Sponsor’s Fee and other Fund expenses. Without increases in the price of bitcoin sufficient to compensate for that decrease, the price of the Shares will also decline and you will lose money on your investment in Shares.
Security threats to the Fund’s account at the Bitcoin Custodian or Prime Broker could result in the halting of Fund operations and a loss of Fund assets or damage to the reputation of the Fund, each of which could result in a reduction in the value of the Shares.
If the process of creation and redemption of Creation Units encounters any unanticipated difficulties, the possibility for arbitrage transactions by Authorized Participants intended to keep the price of the Shares closely linked to the price of bitcoin may not exist and, as a result, the price of the Shares may fall or otherwise diverge from NAV.
These and other risks are described more fully in the Fund’s prospectus.
Blockchain and cryptocurrency investments are subject to various risks, including inability to develop digital asset applications or to capitalize on those applications, theft, loss, or destruction of cryptographic keys, the possibility that digital asset technologies may never be fully implemented, cybersecurity risk, conflicting intellectual property claims, and inconsistent and changing regulations. Speculative trading in bitcoins and other forms of cryptocurrencies, many of which have exhibited extreme price volatility, carries significant risk; an investor can lose the entire amount of their investment. Blockchain technology is a new and relatively untested technology and may never be implemented to a scale that provides identifiable benefits. If a cryptocurrency is deemed a security, it may be deemed to violate federal securities laws. There may be a limited or no secondary market for cryptocurrencies.
Digital assets are subject to risks relating to immature and rapidly developing technology, security vulnerabilities of this technology, (such as theft, loss, or destruction of cryptographic keys), conflicting intellectual property claims, credit risk of digital asset exchanges, regulatory uncertainty, high volatility in their value/price, unclear acceptance by users and global marketplaces, and manipulation or fraud. Portfolio managers, service providers to the portfolios and other market participants increasingly depend on complex information technology and communications systems to conduct business functions. These systems are subject to a number of different threats or risks that could adversely affect the portfolio and their investors, despite the efforts of the portfolio managers and service providers to adopt technologies, processes and practices intended to mitigate these risks and protect the security of their computer systems, software, networks and other technology assets, as well as the confidentiality, integrity and availability of information belonging to the portfolios and their investors.
Any companies and/or case studies referenced herein are used solely for illustrative purposes; any investment may or may not be currently held by any portfolio advised by Franklin Templeton. The information provided is not a recommendation or individual investment advice for any particular security, strategy, or investment product and is not an indication of the trading intent of any Franklin Templeton managed portfolio.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION The Fund has filed a registration statement (including a prospectus) with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) for the offering to which this communication relates. Before you invest, you should read the prospectus in that registration statement and other documents the Fund has filed with the SEC, when available, for more complete information about the Fund and this offering. You may obtain these documents for free by visiting EDGAR on the SEC website at sec.gov or by visiting franklintempleton.com.
