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Harvard University has disclosed a $116 million stake in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) as of June 30, 2025, according to a quarterly SEC filing released Friday. The investment, held by Harvard Management Company — which manages the university’s $50 billion endowment — marks one of the largest known bitcoin allocations by a U.S. university endowment.
The IBIT fund, launched in January 2024, is a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund that offers exposure to the cryptocurrency without requiring direct ownership. Harvard’s sizable position signals growing acceptance of bitcoin among major institutional investors, joining a trend that includes hedge funds, pension funds, and other large asset managers. The move reflects increasing comfort with regulated digital asset products that offer transparency and daily liquidity.
Spot bitcoin ETFs in the U.S. have seen their combined assets climb into the tens of billions, driven by both retail demand and institutional inflows. For large endowments, such ETFs provide a compliant, SEC-regulated pathway into the digital asset market while meeting governance and risk management requirements. Harvard’s move could influence other universities to follow suit.
