Home / Business and Economy / Harvard Bets Big on Bitcoin with $443M Investment in Crypto ETF
Harvard Bets Big on Bitcoin with $443M Investment in Crypto ETF
16 Nov
Summary
- Harvard University's endowment holds $443M stake in Bitcoin ETF
- Investment accounts for over 20% of endowment's U.S. public equity holdings
- IBIT is world's largest spot Bitcoin ETF with $75B in net assets
In a surprising move, Harvard University's endowment has revealed a significant investment in the cryptocurrency market. According to the university's latest 13F filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the endowment held 6.8 million shares of BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) as of the third quarter of 2025, valued at $443 million.
This investment represents just over 20% of Harvard's reported U.S.-listed public equity holdings, making IBIT the endowment's largest known equity position. The move is especially notable as institutional investors typically avoid exchange-traded funds, instead favoring private equity, real estate, and direct investments.
Despite the endowment's massive $55 billion in total assets, the IBIT investment accounts for less than 1% of Harvard's portfolio. However, it still ranks the university among the top 20 holders of the fund, according to Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas.
The filing comes at a time when the price of Bitcoin has plunged more than 5% in the past week to around $96,000. IBIT is the world's largest spot Bitcoin ETF, with nearly $75 billion in net assets according to SoSoValue data.
