Though possibly not its first foray into crypto, Harvard’s reported stake in BlackRock’s Bitcoin exchange-traded fund represented a significant investment.
Harvard Management Company, the entity responsible for managing the university’s $53-billion endowment fund, has reported a multimillion-dollar investment in BlackRock’s Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF).
In a Friday filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Harvard disclosed holding about 1.9 million shares of the iShares Bitcoin (BTC) ETF as of June 30. The BTC exposure was valued at more than $116 million, making it the fund’s fifth-largest investment for the period after Microsoft, Amazon, travel technology company Booking Holdings, and Meta.
Harvard reported its endowment fund was $53.2 billion as of June 30, 2024, making it the largest among US universities, ahead of Yale, Stanford and Princeton.
“The endowment and its asset allocation is [sic] set up to anticipate you’re gonna have some volatile periods,” said Robert Kaplan, Martin Marshall professor of management practice in business administration, in a 2017 video explaining the endowment.
Though the endowment appeared to primarily focus on technology company investments in 2025, Harvard reportedly considered buying shares in crypto funds as early as 2018. Emory University became one of the first significant US endowments to report exposure to digital asset ETFs in 2024, buying 2.7 million shares of the Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust, worth more than $15 million at the time.
Related: Austin University to launch $5M Bitcoin fund with 5-year HODL strategy: Report
Journey from SEC approval to university adoption
The SEC approved the listing and trading of the BlackRock BTC ETF and 10 other funds in January 2024. The fund has grown to have more than $86 billion in net assets as of Thursday, according to BlackRock’s data.
On Tuesday, the SEC said it would increase the number of allowed options contracts to 250,000 from 25,000 “for all ETFs with options,” which would include the iShares Bitcoin ETF. Some expect the move to increase demand for the crypto investment vehicle.
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