Harvard University Just Tripled Its Exposure to BTC, Here’s How

Harvard University, one of the most prestigious universities in the world, has aggressively increased the share of Bitcoin (BTC) exposure in its endowment portion of the portfolio. Despite the general pessimism about the Bitcoin ETF markets, Harvard made an outrageous IBIT purchase.

$442 million: Harvard University triples its bet on BlackRock’s IBIT

As noted by Eric Balchunas, senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg, Harvard University just made BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) its largest portfolio asset. Recent purchases have pushed exposure to more than $442 million in total.

The allocation of IBIT shares in the Harvard portfolio increased by $326 million. As a result, it is now larger compared to the shares of Microsoft and Amazon, which occupy the second and third positions valued at $ 322 million and $ 235 million, respectively.

Balchunas noted that the appearance – not to mention the dominance – of spot crypto ETFs in the university’s endowment portfolio is extremely rare, and represents the best validation for this asset class:

It’s super rare/hard to get an endowment to bite on an ETF – especially a Harvard or Yale one, that’s as good a validation as an ETF can get.

Harvard has become the 16th largest holder of IBIT shares, the analyst added.

IShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) is the largest exchange-traded product in the Bitcoin market. Despite the significant flows, it still stands at $80 billion AUM, four times larger compared to its closest rival Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC).

Bitcoin spot ETFs under pressure this November, will institutions leave?

As such, IBIT shares are now responsible for almost 21% of the portfolio of Harvard University and 0.5% of its total endowment.

Meanwhile, spot Bitcoin ETFs have every chance of securing their absolute worst month since their November launch. The trading session of November 13 with $866 million outflows is already the second worst since January 2024.

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Spot Ether ETFs are also bleeding, while products based on XRP, Litecoin and Solana are still too small to save the situation. The apathy in the ETFs segment reflects the general uncertainty of the cryptocurrency market and the mixed signals sent by institutional holders.

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The bearish stance is amplified by the possibility of Bitcoin (BTC) falling to the breakeven price for most Bitcoin (BTC) miners, U.Today reported earlier.