Harvard Endowment Fund Makes BlackRock Bitcoin ETF Largest Equity Holding

In a 13F filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the Ivy League university's fund disclosed that it held 6.8mn shares of IBIT as of 30 Sept. That was a sharp rise from 1.9mn shares reported on 30 June.

Institutional validation

Eric Balchunas, an ETF analyst at Bloomberg, said on X that $IBIT is Harvard’s biggest position increase in Q3, noting: “It's super rare/difficult to get an endowment to bite on an ETF- esp a Harvard or Yale, it's as good a validation as an ETF can get.”

Other universities that have invested in cryptocurrency assets directly or through funds include Brown, Emory, and the University of Austin. 

Emory was one of the earlier US university endowments to invest in cryptocurrency assets. It disclosed a $15.8mn stake in the Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust in October 2024 and continued to build its position.

In a 13F filing, dated 13 Nov 2025, Emory disclosed that it had almost doubled its holding in the Grayscale trust to more than 1mn during Q3 alone, valued at approximately $51.8mn. The fund also maintains a smaller holding in the IBIT vehicle.

Balchunas added that the amount Harvard has put into cryptocurrencies is still “a mere 1% of total endowment. Big enough to rank 16th among IBIT holders tho.”

Fastest-growing ETF

Introduced in January 2024, IBIT has grown faster than any other exchange-traded fund to more than $100bn in assets under management. 

Harvard’s accumulation of IBIT shares pre-dated the recent correction in the cryptocurrency market. In total, institutions have accumulated roughly 2.55mn bitcoins, which is a little over 12% of the total supply, though with prices regularly dropping below $100,000 in recent weeks some investors' appetite has waned.

Spot ETFs collectively hold more than 1.5mn bitcoins, while Digital Asset Treasury companies, DATs, which hold more than 1mn.