Harvard’s endowment has quietly made Bitcoin ETFs a top public holding, surpassing Google and joining other elite universities in rotating long‑term capital into digital assets.
Summary
- Filings show Harvard built and then tripled its BlackRock iShares Bitcoin Trust stake, lifting IBIT above Alphabet and other big‑tech names in its public portfolio.
- Brown, Emory, and other U.S. universities have also disclosed multi‑million‑dollar Bitcoin ETF and trust positions, signaling a broader endowment shift into crypto.
- The rotation comes as Bitcoin trades near $68,400, with Ethereum and Solana also rallying while digital assets again track global risk appetite.
Harvard University’s endowment is now leaning harder into Bitcoin (BTC) than into Silicon Valley’s most iconic search giant—and markets are taking note
Harvard’s Quiet Portfolio Pivot
“FUN FACT: Harvard University holds more in Bitcoin ETFs than it holds shares in Google,” Bitcoin Magazine posted on X on February 10, distilling a shift years in the making.
Regulatory filings show Harvard built a roughly $116.7 million position in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust in 2025, lifting its Bitcoin exposure above stakes in Alphabet and other big‑tech mainstays.
Subsequent disclosures indicate Harvard increased that wager, with some estimates putting its Bitcoin ETF holdings in the hundreds of millions and ranking the position among its single largest listed assets.
Commentary from the digital‑asset industry has been blunt. “Most people think Bitcoin is the gamble, but Harvard’s math clearly suggests that not owning enough of it is the bigger risk to their long‑term portfolio,” wrote SIG Labs.
Another bitcoiner framed it more simply: “Bitcoin is moving from theory to balance sheets.”
Endowments Move Into Crypto
Harvard is not alone. Brown and Emory universities have both disclosed sizable Bitcoin ETF and trust positions, running into the tens of millions of dollars in IBIT and Grayscale’s Bitcoin Mini Trust. One crypto media noted that “several prominent U.S. university endowments have disclosed investments in cryptocurrency – including Emory, Brown, and Dartmouth Universities.”
Bitcoin, Google, and Macro Risk
Harvard’s rotation comes as digital assets again trade as a pure expression of global risk appetite. Bitcoin (BTC) is hovering around $68,400, with intraday swings pulling it below $70,000 twice in the past 24 hours as traders digest a near‑50% drawdown from its 2025 peak near $126,000.
Ethereum (ETH) changes hands near $4,760, up roughly 2.5% over the last day, while Solana (SOL) trades close to $208 after a gain of just over 5%, on volumes above $12 billion.
“This is Harvard flipping tech for BTC ETFs,” one trader wrote, calling it “wild” and a sign that “institutional adoption is officially peaking right now.”
If that proves true, Bitcoin beating Google inside the world’s richest university endowment may be remembered as more than just a memeable “fun fact.”
