Harvard University’s treasury has significantly revised its investment strategy: BlackRock’s bitcoin ETF has now taken a central place in the portfolio of one of the world’s most famous university endowments.
Bitcoin ETF Takes the Lead
According to a filing with the SEC, by the end of Q3 Harvard held 6.81 million shares of BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), worth around $442.88 million.
This position has become the largest in the institution’s portfolio, accounting for roughly 20% of its current value.
For comparison, at the end of June Harvard’s investment in IBIT was estimated at about $116 million. Thus, in just three months, the university increased its reserves in this instrument by around 280%.
Other Key Portfolio Holdings
Despite the dominance of IBIT, Harvard’s treasury still holds more traditional assets. Among its largest positions are:
- Microsoft shares — about $322.8 million
- Amazon shares — around $235.18 million
- SPDR Gold Trust — approximately $235.1 million
As a result, the bitcoin ETF has confidently surpassed both major tech giants and a gold ETF, which is traditionally viewed as a defensive asset.
“A Rare Seal of Approval” from a University Endowment
Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas drew attention to this allocation, noting that such a structure is unusual for large U.S. universities.
According to him, it is extremely rare and difficult to get endowments to participate in ETFs, especially when it comes to institutions like Harvard or Yale. In his words, this is essentially the highest form of approval a market product can receive.
Balchunas points out that Harvard’s current IBIT holdings represent only about 1% of the fund’s target size of $50 billion. Nonetheless, the university already ranks 16th among the largest holders of this instrument.
IBIT as the World’s Leading Bitcoin Fund
From almost the moment of its launch up to now, iShares Bitcoin Trust has remained the largest bitcoin-based exchange-traded fund in the world. Its net assets under management total just under $75 billion. According to SoSoValue, BlackRock’s ETF has absorbed around 3.97% of the total bitcoin supply.
In other words, Harvard is effectively betting not just on a single product, but on one of the key institutional gateways to the first cryptocurrency.
Emory University Also Increases Its Bitcoin ETF Exposure
Harvard is not the only university showing strong interest in crypto funds. Emory University, a private research institution in Atlanta, is also actively increasing its exposure to bitcoin ETFs.
As of September 30, Emory held more than 1 million shares of Grayscale’s Bitcoin Mini Trust ETF, worth around $42.9 million. Over the quarter, its holdings grew by nearly 90%.
Conclusion: A New Stage of Institutional Bitcoin Adoption
The growing exposure of Harvard and Emory to bitcoin ETFs shows that crypto products are penetrating deeper into the traditionally conservative space of institutional investing. For the market, this may be an important signal: if major university endowments are ready to allocate a significant share of their portfolios to bitcoin, it further cements the cryptocurrency’s status as a full-fledged asset class in long-term investment strategies.
