Feb 6 (Reuters) - Franklin Templeton Investments is

seeking regulatory approval to launch a new crypto index

exchange-traded fund, the firm said on Thursday, as asset

managers hope to cash in on the crypto wave amid Donald Trump's

victory in U.S. presidential elections.

Trump embraced digital assets during his campaign, promising

to make the U.S. the "crypto capital of the planet" and to

accumulate a national stockpile of bitcoin.

The Securities and Exchange Commission, which had long

attempted to block ETFs from investing in bitcoin citing

investor protection concerns, approved bitcoin and ether ETFs

last year. Since then, the products have allowed more investors

including institutional investors to gain exposure to bitcoin.

Several firms have applied to seek the green light for other

crypto coins' ETFs like Solana and XRP. Their approvals are

still pending.

"The fund currently may not hold any digital asset other

than bitcoin and ether. It is uncertain whether any digital

assets other than bitcoin and ether may in the future be added

to the Underlying Index," Franklin Templeton said in a

regulatory filing on Thursday.

It gives Franklin the room to modify its ETFs if other coins

gets the SEC's nod.