Harvard Doubles Down on Bitcoin—Elite Institution Shakes Up Finance’s Status Quo

Harvard just flipped the script on traditional finance—again. The Ivy League giant is deepening its Bitcoin bet, signaling a seismic shift in institutional crypto adoption.

Why Wall Street should be sweating:

When academia's gold standard embraces digital gold, it's not a trend—it's an extinction-level event for old-money thinking. Harvard's move exposes the fatal flaw in legacy finance: dinosaurs still think 'volatility' is a dirty word.

Meanwhile, the smart money's stacking SATs before the next halving. Pro tip: when Harvard starts mooning over your asset class, it's time to check your boomer portfolio allocations.

Harvard University, established 389 years ago, continues to show significant interest in cryptocurrencies. Known as one of the world’s leading universities, Harvard is supported by endowment funds similar to other U.S. universities. Notably, Harvard’s fund size is nearly $57 billion, surpassing the national reserves of many countries.

Harvard and Bitcoin (BTC)

The latest 13F filings reveal that Harvard University maintains its holdings in Bitcoin$95,640 ETFs (BTC ETF). Funds and companies with assets over $100 million regularly submit 13F forms to the SEC. These forms offer insights into the holdings of major companies and funds.

Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric discovered a detail likely to please cryptocurrency enthusiasts while reviewing the latest filings. During the third quarter, Harvard significantly increased its BTC ETF positions.

“I just checked, and indeed, IBIT currently represents the largest position increase in Harvard’s 13F. It is rare or difficult for an endowment to invest in an ETF, especially one from Harvard or Yale. This is the best endorsement an ETF can receive. However, it constitutes only 1% of the half-billion-dollar total endowment assets. Yet, they rank 16th among clients holding IBIT, which is significant.”

Over the years, millions have labeled bitcoin and cryptocurrencies as foolish and baseless. Nevertheless, Bitcoin persists, and some of the world’s most intelligent minds believe that holding BTC is a logical decision.

The Current State of Bitcoin

Although Harvard increased its BTC risk in the last quarter, BTC has hovered around $95,000 for weeks due to previously discussed reasons. Turkish on-chain analyst anlcnc1, after yesterday’s dip, believes the recovery might commence for BTC.

“Currently, with a 94K closing, it’s dipped to the 1.68 levels, marking a new low. I think it will rise with the price upon closing in the green box. I believe this region will now be the bottom for MVRV.”

The same analyst notes that U.S. demand remains weak. Before the decline accelerated, numerous analysts, including Anıl, highlighted the relaxation on the Coinbase Premium side. As these investors take predominantly selling positions, a scenario unfolds as seen below.

“Bitcoin’s Coinbase Premium closed yesterday in the most negative zone in the last 7 months. This indicates that U.S. demand is still weak and that selling pressure is still ongoing on the institutional/U.S. side. This level was seen during the U.S.-China Tariff crisis; prices were at 75-76K, and we are now at 94-95K, facing the same selling pressure. One could say there’s a slight positive divergence.

What we need is not directly turning positive, but even seeing the pressure reduce WOULD be sufficient. If the slope is higher at each day’s close, we will see that the selling pressure here has diminished, which will be a good sign. Since 116K, this slope has gradually moved downward. We discussed its importance then. In summary, the slope needs to turn upwards.”