Harvard Goes Big on Bitcoin: IBIT ETF Holdings Surge 257% to $443M

Wall Street's ivory tower just doubled down on crypto—with Harvard's endowment funneling another $443 million into BlackRock's IBIT Bitcoin ETF. That’s a 257% jump from their last reported position.

Why the sudden conviction? Maybe they’ve seen the writing on the blockchain: TradFi’s playing catch-up while retail traders get rekt. Or perhaps it’s just another elite institution hedging against the dollar’s slow-motion collapse.

Either way, when Harvard sneezes, the market catches FOMO. Watch for copycat allocations from Yale and Princeton by Q1 2026—right before the next 'unexpected' regulatory crackdown.

In brief

• Harvard University increased its holdings in the iShares Bitcoin Trust IBIT by 257% to a total value of $443 million.
• Harvard’s position in IBIT now ranks it among the top shareholders of the ETF.
• The university also raised its GLD gold ETF holdings to 661,391 shares worth $235 million.

Harvard Boosts Bitcoin Holdings

A recent filing with the SEC indicates that Harvard University has significantly raised its ownership in BlackRock’s iShares bitcoin Trust, now holding about 6.8 million shares valued at $442.8 million as of September 30. This marks a 257% jump from the 1.9 million shares it held in the prior quarter.

This MOVE by the Ivy League institution is a rare occurrence in traditional finance. Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas noted that it is unusual for a major endowment to take positions in exchange-traded funds, particularly at institutions like Harvard or Yale. Although the stake represents roughly 1% of Harvard’s total assets, it is large enough to rank the university 16th among IBIT shareholders. The investment also became Harvard’s largest disclosed holding in its 13F filing and marked its most significant increase in the third quarter.

Meanwhile, this shift arrives years after Harvard economist and former IMF chief Kenneth S. Rogoff predicted in 2018 that Bitcoin faced a greater chance of falling toward $100 than reaching $100,000 by 2028. With just over two years before that timeframe closes, Bitcoin has moved in the opposite direction of that expectation, even trading around $126,000 in early October. Harvard’s latest adjustment in its investment portfolio indicates a clear departure from earlier skepticism and reflects how major players are reassessing cryptocurrency.

Institutional Flows and Diversified Investments

Financial commentator MacroScope remarked on X that long-term institutional flows continue to develop around Bitcoin, regardless of short-term volatility. In this context, Bitcoin ETFs offer a regulated way for institutions to access the asset, a structure introduced under formal oversight in early 2024. Data from SoSoValue shows that US spot Bitcoin ETFs have attracted $58.85 billion in total net inflows, raising their combined net assets to $125.34 billion, which represents 6.67% of Bitcoin’s total market capitalization.

Even as these inflows have accumulated, market sentiment has turned negative. This week, the BTC ETF sector recorded a net outflow of $1,111.7 million, as Bitcoin’s price declined to $95,000.

Harvard’s filings also show that its investments go beyond Bitcoin. Its holdings in the GLD Gold ETF nearly doubled, rising 99% from 333,000 shares in June to 661,391 shares, with a total value of $235 million.

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