Harvard University has sharply increased its exposure to Bitcoin, expanding its holdings in spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds by 257% in the third quarter.
The iShares Bitcoin Trust has now become the institution’s largest disclosed ETF position, valued at $442.8 million as of September 30.
This reflects a growing institutional shift toward digital assets as major investors rethink how cryptocurrencies fit into long-term portfolio strategies.
According to Matt Hougan, Chief Investment Officer at Bitwise, Harvard has also raised its allocations to gold ETFs by 99%, bringing its exposure to roughly $235 million. The investment tilt shows a clear preference for Bitcoin, with a ratio of two dollars allocated to Bitcoin for every dollar placed in gold, offering insight into how one of the world’s largest endowments is redefining its hedge-asset strategy amid ongoing global economic uncertainty.
While the Bitcoin position represents a modest 0.75% of Harvard’s $57 billion endowment, it places the university among the top 20 holders of BlackRock’s Bitcoin fund, highlighting the scale and significance of its involvement in the digital asset market.
Sharp Market Pullback Hits Recent Gains
Harvard’s aggressive accumulation, however, coincided with a major market correction. Bitcoin has fallen more than 20% since the end of Q3, from around $114,000 to approximately $92,000, leaving the university facing a potential unrealized loss of roughly 14% on its most recent purchases. That translates to an estimated $89 million paper loss on its latest Bitcoin entry alone, assuming it bought near July’s lows.
Although this decline is a small fraction of the endowment’s total value, Harvard’s investment performance has lagged several Ivy League peers over the past decade. The university generated an annualized return of 8.2%, ranking ninth among ten elite institutions tracked by Markov Processes International, according to The Wall Street Journal. Even with an 11.9% gain in the fiscal year ending June 30, Harvard remained behind MIT (14.8%) and Stanford (14.3%).
Why Bitcoin? A Search for New Hedges
Joshua Rauh, a finance professor at Stanford University, said investors increasingly view Bitcoin and gold as potential hedges against stress in the global monetary system or a weakening U.S. dollar. Still, he cautioned that neither asset offers guaranteed protection, noting that their effectiveness “varies widely depending on the scenario.”
Harvard’s move is also striking because it contrasts sharply with earlier skepticism from the university’s own faculty. In 2018, Harvard economist and former IMF chief economist Kenneth Rogoff predicted Bitcoin would trend closer to $100 than $100,000 over the next decade, arguing that regulatory crackdowns would suppress most of its use cases. In his latest book, Our Dollar, Your Problem, Rogoff acknowledges that he misjudged the situation, saying he had been “too optimistic about the U.S. restoring clear and reasonable digital asset regulation,” and surprised that regulators tolerated “hundreds of millions or billions” in digital holdings with few consequences.
Environmental and Practical Critiques Mount
Harvard’s deepening involvement in digital assets has triggered notable pushback. Brett Arends of MarketWatch criticized the move as an “environmental disaster,” pointing out that Bitcoin’s annual energy consumption exceeds that of entire nations such as Thailand and Poland.
Others question Bitcoin’s utility. Stanford professor Darrell Duffie expressed surprise at Harvard’s commitment, noting that Bitcoin “doesn’t generate dividends, and its use in payments remains extremely limited.”
Bitcoin continues to face headwinds, with outflows accelerating from spot Bitcoin ETFs and sentiment turning cautious. More than $2.7 billion has exited spot Bitcoin funds in the past five weeks, raising doubts about the cryptocurrency’s ability to reclaim the $100,000 level anytime soon.
