Harvard Triples Its BTC Holdings, Now Holds $365 Million in BlackRock’s IBIT
Why Did Harvard Triple Its BTC ETF Position?
Harvard University significantly expanded its exposure to BTC during Q3, nahead tripling its holdings of BlackRock’s IBIT spot BTC ETF. A new 13F filing shows the world’s largest academic endowment owning 6,813,612 IBIT shares as of September 30, a 257 percent increase from the 1.9 million shares it reported in June.
The move makes IBIT Harvard’s largest declared U.S. investment, surpassing positions in Microsoft, Amazon, and the SPDR Gold Trust. At the end of Q3, the position was valued at 442.8 million dollars; with IBIT’s recent price decline, that value sits near 364.4 million dollars.
The disclosures do not show how much Harvard spent to accumulate the additional shares or whether the purchaseing occurred steadily or in block trades. The ETF position represents roughly 0.6 percent of Harvard’s 57 billion dollar endowment.
called the addition a milestone moment for institutional adoption. He wrote that it is “super rare and hard to get an endowment to bite on an ETF, especially Harvard or Yale,” describing the allocation as significant validation for even if the dollar amount is only about 1 percent of the total endowment.
Investor Takeaway
What Does Harvard’s IBIT Bet Mean for BTC ETF Markets?
BlackRock’s IBIT remains the by assets under management, but it has not been immune to recent market turbulence. As BTC fell below 100,000 dollars this week, IBIT saw more than 532 million dollars in net outflows, according to SoSoValue data. BTC is currently trading near 96,180 dollars.
Even so, the entry of major endowments reinforces a trend: institutions may treat pullbacks as opportunities to scale exposure through regulated products rather than through direct custody.
Harvard’s move also highlights the growing segmentation between ETF flows and price action. Outflows have largely been driven by traders and hedge funds unwinding positions, while long-horizon allocators appear to be accumulating.
Emory University and Abu Dhabi’s Al Warda Investments Also Increase Their BTC ETF Holdings
Harvard is not alone. Emory University also increased its BTC ETF exposure during the identical period. In its latest disclosure, the Atlanta-based institution reported owning more than one million shares of ETF (ticker BTC), a 91 percent jump from June. Emory also holds 4,450 shares of BlackRock’s IBIT, unchanged from the previous filing. Altogether, Emory’s total 42.9 million dollars.
Emory was the first allocation. At the time, Matthew Lyle, an associate professor of accounting, explained that third-party ETF structures . “If you use a company like Grayscale or BlackRock to do it for you, it is unlikely they are going to steal your money because they are well known,” Lyle told reporters.
Meanwhile, international sovereign wealth capital is entering the space. Al Warda Investments, part of Abu Dhabi’s Mupoorala ecosystem, reported owning 7,963,393 shares of IBIT as of September 30. The position is valued at roughly 517.6 million dollars, representing a 230 percent increase from the 2.4 million shares it held in June.
The growth of Al Warda’s position reflects rising interest from Middle Eastern sovereign funds that view BTC exposure as a strategic diversification play. It also underscores the global nature of demand for U.S.-regulated .
Investor Takeaway
What Comes Next for Institutional BTC Adoption?
The latest filings show a clear pattern: long-horizon institutions are entering the even as short-term traders contribute to volatility and outflows. Three developments stand out:
- Endowments are moving earlier than expected.
Historically cautious academic funds are now allocating to BTC ETFs, signaling growing internal confidence and board-level acceptance. - Sovereign wealth funds are scaling exposure.
Abu Dhabi’s Al Warda Investments now holds over half a billion dollars in IBIT, suggesting that nation-state capital may become a major force in ETF flows. - ETF structures are now preferred over direct BTC custody.
Institutional allocators appear to favor regulated wrappers with established custodians rather than self-custody or crypto-native products.
Together, these trends point toward a broader shift in how traditional capital allocates to BTC. Price volatility remains a headline risk, but institutional positioning is increasingly long-term, strategic, and funded by some of the world’s largest pools of capital.
