Harvard Enters the Crypto Market With BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF

SEC disclosure documents revealed that Harvard University had invested over $116.6 million in to IBIT, BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF, in Q2 2025. IBIT was its fifth-largest portfolio investment, surpassing Google’s parent company.

This news is quite unexpected, and it’s still unclear when Harvard made this investment. The university has significant shares in a wide range of tech firms, but IBIT is apparently its only Web3 commitment.

Harvard’s Surprise Bitcoin ETF Purchase

Harvard, one of the world’s most prestigious universities, has occasionally appeared in the crypto industry, but most of its interactions have been tangential.

Its Business School approved a case on Helium, and it’s been at the center of Trump disputes without much more direct contact. It turns out, however, that Harvard is a major Bitcoin ETF investor:

Social media reports first suggested that Harvard put $120 million into BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF, but this was slightly garbled. In actuality, it was $116.6 million.

This revelation came from SEC documents detailing the university’s investment portfolio at the end of Q2 2025.

Still, Harvard has evidently put a lot of faith in the Bitcoin ETF. It’s the university’s fifth-largest portfolio investment right now, outpaced by Meta, Microsoft, Amazon, and Booking Holdings Inc.

This figure doesn’t include other asset categories like real estate. Amazingly, Harvard allocated roughly $3 million more into IBIT than Alphabet, Google’s parent company.

BlackRock is the clear leader in the Bitcoin ETF market, so it makes sense that Harvard directed its capital at the firm. IBIT is the overwhelming first choice for Bitcoin ETF investment, at least for retail investors.

Its portfolio includes other tech and crypto-adjacent stocks, like $104.4 million in NVIDIA, but IBIT remains Harvard’s only direct Web3 exposure.

Harvard’s unexpected purchase could increase IBIT’s public notoriety. July was a bad month for BTC ETFs, with BlackRock’s Ethereum ETF surpassing IBIT in terms of weekly inflows. If an establishment pillar like Harvard is interested regardless, that could represent a signal of confidence.