{"id":18060,"date":"2025-11-17T03:28:33","date_gmt":"2025-11-17T02:28:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wsj-crypto.com\/?p=18060"},"modified":"2025-11-17T03:28:33","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T02:28:33","slug":"harvard-strengthens-investment-in-blackrocks-bitcoin-exchange-traded-fund","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wsj-crypto.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/17\/harvard-strengthens-investment-in-blackrocks-bitcoin-exchange-traded-fund\/","title":{"rendered":"Harvard Strengthens Investment in BlackRock’s Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Fund"},"content":{"rendered":"

“`html
\n<\/p>\n

\n

Harvard University augmented its stake in BlackRock\u2019s Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) by more than 250% in the third quarter after the Ivy League institution initially invested in the fund earlier this year.<\/p>\n

Harvard Management Company, the entity overseeing the university\u2019s $57 billion endowment fund, disclosed<\/a> in a regulatory document on Friday that it owned over 6.8 million shares in the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) valued at $442.8 million as of Sept. 30.<\/p>\n

The institution revealed in August<\/a> that it had a stake in IBIT for the first time, possessing approximately 1.9 million shares then valued at $116.6 million.<\/p>\n

\u201cExtremely rare\u201d for a university to invest in ETF<\/h2>\n

Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas stated<\/a> on Friday that it is \u201cextremely rare\/challenging to persuade an endowment to engage with an ETF.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s as strong a endorsement as an ETF can achieve,\u201d he commented, but pointed out that Harvard\u2019s IBIT investment represented \u201ca mere 1% of total endowment.\u201d<\/p>\n

IBIT<\/a> was Harvard\u2019s most substantial investment in its filing and marked its \u201clargest position increase in Q3,\u201d now placing it as the 16th-largest holder of the ETF, according to Balchunas.<\/p>\n

Source: <\/em>Eric Balchunas<\/em><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Balchunas mentioned<\/a> in August after Harvard\u2019s initial IBIT acquisition<\/a> that endowments \u201care significantly anti-ETF\u201d and the \u201ctoughest institutions to engage\u201d regarding ETFs.<\/p>\n

Harvard expands gold, tech investments<\/h2>\n

The remaining investments from Harvard were chiefly in major US technology firms, such as Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, and Alphabet, Google’s parent organization.<\/p>\n

Related: <\/strong><\/em>Crypto index ETFs will be the upcoming trend of adoption \u2014 WisdomTree executive<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

The university also acquired a new $16.8 million stake in the buy-now, pay-later fintech<\/a> Klarna and $59.1 million worth of shares in the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company.<\/p>\n

Harvard also nearly doubled its commitment to gold, increasing its share ownership in the gold-backed ETF<\/a>, SPDR Gold Shares (GLD), to 661,391 shares valued at $235.1 million, up from its 333,000 share holdings in August.<\/p>\n

SoSoValue indicates<\/a> that Bitcoin (BTC<\/a>) ETFs experienced net outflows of $1.11 billion in the trading week ending on Friday, as the price of Bitcoin dipped below $100,000.<\/p>\n

Bitcoin is now trading under $95,000 after reaching a low of $93,029 in the past 24 hours, which temporarily erased the gains<\/a> it had accumulated so far this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Magazine: <\/strong><\/em>Solana vs Ethereum ETFs, Facebook\u2019s impact on Bitwise \u2014 Hunter Horsley<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n