Harvard University triples its investment in BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF, filing reveals

Harvard University has sharply increased its position in BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF, tripling its stake during the third quarter, according to a new regulatory filing.

As of Sept. 30th, 2025, Harvard held more than 6.8 million shares of the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), valued at about $442.8 million. That’s up from roughly 1.9 million shares—worth $116.6 million—disclosed in August when the university first revealed its IBIT position.

“It’s super rare and difficult to get an endowment to bite on an ETF,” Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas said, calling Harvard’s move “as good a validation as an ETF can get.” He also noted the position still represents only about 1% of Harvard’s roughly $57 billion endowment. IBIT was Harvard’s largest holding in the filing and its biggest position increase in Q3, placing the university among the ETF’s top holders—ranked 16th, per Balchunas.

Beyond Bitcoin, Harvard added to positions in major U.S. tech names such as Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, and Alphabet. It also initiated a new $16.8 million stake in buy-now, pay-later firm Klarna and purchased $59.1 million of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company shares.

The university nearly doubled its gold exposure as well, increasing its stake in the SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) ETF to 661,391 shares worth $235.1 million, up from about 333,000 shares in August.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin ETFs recorded net outflows of approximately $1.11 billion in the week ended Friday, according to SoSoValue, as Bitcoin’s price slipped below $100,000. The cryptocurrency is now trading under $95,000 after touching a 24-hour low of $93,029, briefly erasing its year-to-date gains.