# Stock dividends into Bitcoin: Could blended ETFs broaden investor access?

By Riza Dagoc

Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/investing/41179
Published: 2026-10-26T17:40:30.000Z
Updated: 2026-10-26T17:40:30.000Z
Section: Investing

> Franklin Templeton’s proposed ETFs would reinvest stock dividends exclusively in Bitcoin. Scott Melker said the blended structure could broaden access and encourage other issuers to follow.

ETFs that combine equities with Bitcoin and direct stock dividends into the cryptocurrency could broaden investor access by incorporating Bitcoin into familiar investment products.

On Yahoo Finance’s The Daily Wolf on October 26, Scott Melker highlighted Franklin Templeton’s proposed blended ETFs as an example of how combining Bitcoin with traditional assets could make exposure more acceptable to ordinary investors.

The two proposed funds, with tickers FBEQ and FIBT, would hold 95% equities and 5% Bitcoin. Melker said their distinguishing feature was the treatment of stock dividends: those payments would be reinvested exclusively in Bitcoin, gradually increasing the funds’ Bitcoin holdings.

Melker argued that a small Bitcoin allocation could contribute meaningfully to portfolio gains while limiting its impact during declines. He questioned the suggestion that investors would buy the funds without realizing they held Bitcoin, saying many would likely choose them specifically for that exposure.

Corporate purchases also illustrated the role of financing and preferred shares. Melker said Strive bought 6,182 Bitcoin after raising money through a large offering of SATS, its fixed-rate 15% product. Strategy, meanwhile, bought no additional Bitcoin and repurchased $205 million of STRC preferred shares. He interpreted the repurchases as an effort to restore the shares to par and restart financing for Bitcoin purchases.

Turning to short-term trading, Melker said liquidations reached about $815 million over a weekend 24-hour period as Bitcoin fell from $82,000 to $79,000 before recovering above $80,000. He attributed the scale of the liquidations to thinner weekend trading volume and fewer orders available to absorb buying and selling, allowing relatively small trades to produce larger price moves.

Beyond those short-term swings, Melker expected products combining Bitcoin with traditional assets to become more common. He said Franklin Templeton’s approach could attract competing offerings from other issuers and eventually become an established product category.