Harvard Increases Bitcoin ETF Holdings by 257% to $442.8M

• Harvard lifts Bitcoin ETF stake to $442.8M after a 257% surge, leading broader flows.
• Harvard nearly doubles gold ETF exposure to $235M as part of a wider shift into hedges.
• Universities and pensions lift Bitcoin ETF exposure as regulated asset adoption grows.

Harvard University expanded its Bitcoin exposure after increasing its iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) position by 257% to $442.8 million. The filing showed Harvard Management Company raised its position to 6.8 million IBIT shares as the school responded to changing market conditions and broader institutional flows.

Harvard Lifts IBIT Position 

The latest 13F report revealed that Harvard moved from 1.9 million IBIT shares in June to 6.8 million shares by September 30. This increase, according to Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas, showed a rare change among major endowments that usually avoid ETF structures. Since the filing placed IBIT at the top of Harvard’s reported positions, the change introduced the next trend visible across the portfolio.

That change becomes clearer after examining the updated weightings. IBIT now is ahead of Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet and Nvidia within the disclosed allocation. The filing showed IBIT representing 20.97% of the reported portfolio, according to the SEC document. This setup then leads to the broader context behind Harvard’s parallel move into alternative assets.

Gold Holdings Rise

Alongside the Bitcoin increase, Harvard nearly doubled its gold exposure by raising its SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) position from 333,000 shares to 661,391 shares. The stake now totals $235 million and reflects a 99% increase over the previous quarter. 

This expansion, which happened at the same time as the Bitcoin purchase, suggests Harvard focused on assets seen as hedges during uncertain monetary periods. This dual change also moved Harvard up the rankings of institutional IBIT holders. 

The university shifted from 29th place last quarter to one of the top positions among reported holders. Since other institutions disclosed similar moves, this trend connects directly to the rising number of pension and university funds that increased their regulated crypto exposure in 2025.

More Universities and Pensions Increase Bitcoin ETF 

Harvard’s filing come as several U.S. institutions also expanded their Bitcoin-linked holdings. The State of Michigan Retirement System raised its IBIT position to 300,000 shares valued at $11.4 million. 

Meanwhile, the State of Wisconsin Investment Board held over 6 million IBIT shares worth about $387.3 million, according to its filing. This placed Wisconsin among the largest state-level holders of Bitcoin ETF products.

Additional filings from universities added further context. Emory University reported a $15 million position in the Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust earlier in 2024. The University of Austin launched a dedicated $5 million Bitcoin fund in February. 

These moves collectively show a broader change in how academic endowments treat regulated digital-asset products. However, some institutions remain cautious. Cornell professor Eswar Prasad reiterated that he views cryptocurrency as a speculative asset. 

Brian Neale of the University of Nebraska Foundation told the Financial Times that he does not consider crypto an institutionally investable class due to limited adoption among traditional allocators. These remarks contrast sharply with the changes seen in Harvard’s latest filing.

Related: Harvard Adds BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust Worth $116M

Harvard’s Earlier Academic Forecasts

Harvard’s increased stake is also against previous expectations from some of its own faculty. Kenneth Rogoff, a Harvard economist and former IMF chief economist, predicted in 2018 that Bitcoin would likely trend toward $100 rather than $100,000 by 2028. 

Rogoff later acknowledged in his book Our Dollar, Your Problem that he underestimated global regulatory conflicts and misread the dynamics of the underground economy. Balchunas noted this contrast and said the filing “must feel so great” for Bitcoin advocates.

Harvard’s filing showed the IBIT position represents about 0.75% of the endowment’s roughly $57 billion portfolio. However, Bitwise analyst Ryan Rasmussen predicted that the allocation could rise toward 1% and possibly 5% if peer institutions begin adjusting their positions. This view aligns with the wider pace of institutional adoption seen in 2025.

Meanwhile, Harvard lifted its IBIT stake to 6.8 million shares worth $442.8 million after a 257% quarterly increase. The filing also showed a near-doubling of its gold ETF position as the endowment expanded its alternative-asset exposure. These changes place Harvard among the largest institutional Bitcoin ETF holders and connect its moves with a broader trend across universities and state pensions.