Harvard University’s endowment has taken a notable leap into digital assets, disclosing a $116.7 million stake in BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund, surpassing its investment in Google’s parent company, Alphabet, as of the end of last quarter (Q2).
The Ivy League institution’s position in the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) ranked as its fifth-largest holding, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing on Friday.
Harvard Management Co., which oversees the university’s $50 billion endowment, reported holding 1.9 million shares of IBIT as of June 30, valued at roughly $117 million. That placed it ahead of its $114 million position in Alphabet and above its stakes in other major technology names, including Nvidia.
Harvard’s largest single holding remained Microsoft, worth more than $310 million at the end of the fiscal period.
The investment marks a significant endorsement of BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF from one of the most closely watched institutional investors in the United States. IBIT, launched earlier this year, has quickly become one of the most successful ETFs in history, attracting deep-pocketed backers ranging from sovereign wealth funds to pension plans.
In the first quarter, an Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund disclosed a position exceeding $500 million in IBIT. The fund now manages about $84 billion in assets, cementing its status as the dominant player in the fast-growing spot Bitcoin ETF market.
Other institutions are following suit. The State of Michigan Retirement System revealed earlier this week that it held nearly $11 million in the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF at the end of the second quarter.
Harvard now joins a widening group of major endowments, pension funds, and asset managers putting money into Bitcoin through regulated ETFs. The university hasn’t said anything publicly about the decision, but the investment signals a clear shift toward diversifying beyond its usual mix of stocks and bonds, bringing the world’s biggest cryptocurrency into the Ivy League’s playbook.
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