According to recent disclosures, Harvard University markedly increased its exposure to Bitcoin through BlackRock’s IBIT spot ETF, almost tripling its stake in the fund in the third quarter. The university reported that as of Sept. 30, it held close to 7 million IBIT shares, constituting the largest disclosed U.S. investment position in the university’s publicly declared portfolio.
As per the university’s disclosures, it possessed 6,813,612 IBIT shares, which was a whopping 257% of the shares that it held in the previous quarter. The ETF is now Harvard’s single largest U.S. domestic asset disclosed, with the university foregoing its blue-chip holdings like Microsoft, Amazon, and the SPDR Gold Trust. On Sept. 30, the shares were worth $442.8 million; however, their value has since depreciated to around $364.4 million as IBIT’s price dropped.
Although the position is big in absolute terms, it only accounts for 0.6% of Harvard’s estimated $57 billion endowment, thus showing that the institution is selectively but significantly embracing the asset. Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas called the move a rare acknowledgment by a major endowment, adding that the position would be 16th if ranked among all IBIT holders.
Besides Harvard, you might wonder: which other major institutions are increasing their exposure to Bitcoin ETFs? Emory University revealed a significant increase in its investment, disclosing more than one million shares of Grayscale’s Bitcoin Mini Trust ETF (BTC) as of Sept. 30. This is a 91% increase from June, and the value of its Bitcoin ETF positions has risen to $42.9 million, including the IBIT stake of 4,450 shares, which has not changed. Emory was the first U.S. university to publicly disclose Bitcoin ETF investments, giving the reason of custodial security benefits provided by such firms as Grayscale and BlackRock.
Another major international investor also increased exposure: Al Warda Investments, a sovereign wealth fund under the Abu Dhabi Investment Council, reported holding of 7,963,393 IBIT shares worth approximately $517.6 million. Compared to June, this is a 230% increase and a position that makes the fund one of the largest institutional holders of the ETF. The increased activity of the university and the sovereign funds in the bitcoin space has come with the bitcoin price hovering around $96,180 after some market declines.
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