Author: Zen, PANews
In recent years, cryptocurrencies have gradually evolved from niche experiments to an emerging asset class in various institutional portfolios. Especially in the United States, many well-known universities' endowment funds have begun to experiment with allocating crypto assets to hedge against inflation or seek long-term appreciation opportunities.
University endowment funds are pools of funds accumulated by academic institutions, typically existing in the form of charitable donations. These funds are used to support teaching and research and can be allocated to various assets for investment.
Recently, Harvard University disclosed that its endowment fund holds over $100 million in Bitcoin positions, sparking widespread attention from academia and the market regarding universities' involvement in crypto assets. This article by PANews will review universities that have publicly disclosed or been reported to participate in the crypto space, detailing their investment methods, disclosure times, and scales to understand the positions and practices of universities amid the digital asset wave.
Harvard University
Harvard University's endowment fund has consistently ranked first among global universities in financial reports and public statistics, with a management scale of approximately $50 billion. In the allocation of crypto assets, Harvard's endowment fund also holds the largest known Bitcoin exposure among U.S. university endowments.
The Harvard Management Company, responsible for managing Harvard University's endowment fund, recently disclosed in its latest 13-F filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that as of June 30, 2025, it holds approximately 1.9 million shares of BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), valued at nearly $116 million. IBIT has also become the fifth-largest investment target of the fund during the same period, just behind Microsoft, Amazon, travel technology company Booking Holdings, and Meta, slightly exceeding its investment in Google's parent company Alphabet.
Earlier, (The Information) cited sources stating that Harvard invested in the cryptocurrency sector as early as 2018, having invested in "at least" one cryptocurrency fund. Additionally, according to CoinDesk, Harvard has been quietly purchasing cryptocurrencies through exchanges like Coinbase since around 2020.
Brown University
Brown University's endowment fund is known for its high investment returns, achieving an annual return rate of 11.3% for the 2024 fiscal year, with an average annualized return of 10.8% over the past 10 years and 13.1% over the past 5 years.
Like Harvard and the University of Michigan, Brown University's endowment fund is rumored to have begun purchasing Bitcoin on exchanges as early as around 2020. However, it wasn't until May of this year that Brown University publicly disclosed its Bitcoin investments for the first time. According to SEC 13-F disclosures, as of March 31, 2025, Brown University held 105,000 shares of BlackRock's IBIT Bitcoin ETF, with a market value of approximately $4.915 million at that time.
Previously, Brown University had no publicly available records of crypto asset investments, and this disclosure makes it the latest university in the U.S. to announce Bitcoin holdings after Emory and the University of Austin.
Emory University
Emory University first disclosed its Bitcoin position in public documents in October 2024, becoming the first university endowment in the United States to publicly disclose such holdings. According to a filing made to the SEC on October 25 last year, Emory University held nearly 2.7 million shares of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), with a market value of approximately $15.1 million at the time. As the price of Bitcoin subsequently increased nearly twofold, this portion of assets may now be worth over $30 million.
Emory Investment Management (EIM) is responsible for the financial oversight of the university's endowment fund, valued at over $11 billion. EIM Chief Investment Officer Srinivas Pulavarti revealed that Emory University's investments were initially made in trust form, but when stocks were converted to an ETF structure, the university was compelled to disclose its holdings. Emory accounting professor Matthew Lyle pointed out that using well-known company-issued ETFs can reduce security risks compared to directly buying Bitcoin.
University of Austin
The University of Austin (UATX) is an emerging private university, with an endowment fund of approximately $200 million since its founding in 2019.
In February 2025, Cointelegraph reported that the University of Austin plans to establish a Bitcoin investment fund exceeding $5 million, to be included in its endowment fund management. Chad Thevenot, Senior Vice President for Development at the University of Austin, stated that the university will devise a Bitcoin holding strategy for at least five years, and indicated that Bitcoin provides a long-term value opportunity similar to traditional assets (stocks, real estate). The foundation's Chief Investment Officer Chun Lai told the Financial Times, "When the potential of cryptocurrencies becomes apparent, we don't want to be left behind."
Additionally, UATX has partnered with the Bitcoin services company Unchained for fundraising, with Unchained CEO Joseph Kelly donating 2 Bitcoins to the university's Bitcoin fund. UATX Associate Professor Thomas Hogan stated that the purpose of the university endowment fund is to serve students, and Bitcoin provides a unique opportunity for UATX to fulfill its commitment to develop future leaders and innovators.
Stanford University
Stanford University has not directly disclosed its endowment fund's Bitcoin holdings, but a student-operated fund at the university, the Blyth Fund, took advantage of buying Bitcoin last year. In March 2024, Kole Lee, head of the Stanford Blockchain Club, announced that the Blyth Fund would invest approximately 7% of its portfolio in Bitcoin. The fund achieves Bitcoin exposure through purchasing BlackRock's IBIT ETF, with the Bitcoin price at the time of purchase being around $45,000.
It should be noted that the Blyth Fund does not belong to Stanford's formal endowment fund but is part of Stanford's discretionary fund pool, granting students autonomy in investment decisions. The Blyth Fund was established in 1978 in honor of legendary banker Charles Blyth and manages a few hundred thousand dollars' worth of assets through investments in stocks, bonds, and other assets, including BTC.
As of now, Stanford has not publicly disclosed any formal information regarding its endowment fund holding crypto assets, but the investment actions of the student team indicate that there are investors within Stanford who hold an optimistic view of cryptocurrencies.
Yale University
Yale University has the second-largest endowment fund in the U.S., valued at over $30 billion, but information regarding its involvement in crypto assets primarily comes from media reports rather than official disclosures.
In 2018, Bloomberg reported that Yale participated in the financing of the well-known venture fund Paradigm's $400 million fund, being one of the fund's investors. Additionally, CNBC reported that Yale's Chief Investment Officer David Swensen also represented the university in investing in a $300 million cryptocurrency fund managed by Andreessen Horowitz.
In terms of direct investments in crypto assets, according to CoinDesk, Yale, like Harvard, Brown, and the University of Michigan, began purchasing small amounts of Bitcoin through cryptocurrency exchanges as investments around 2020 (specific amounts have not been disclosed).
However, Yale has not publicly confirmed or commented on the aforementioned investments. What is known is that Yale has been involved in early-stage venture funds related to cryptocurrencies, but specific data on its holdings of Bitcoin or ETFs has not been publicly disclosed, and its investment attitude remains relatively cautious, with limited information available to the public.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
The MIT endowment fund is similarly large, approximately $24.6 billion for the 2024 fiscal year, but official public documents have not disclosed any direct holdings of Bitcoin or cryptocurrency ETFs. Historically, MIT has been known for its flexible investment style, and according to (The Information), MIT also participated in a blockchain-themed venture capital fund investment back in 2018.
Furthermore, according to public information, MIT has close ties to research in cryptography and blockchain technology; for example, the Digital Currency Research Project at the MIT Media Lab has received donations. However, as of now, MIT has not disclosed any cryptocurrency positions in SEC filings or financial reports. This means that MIT may have been involved in crypto assets through previous blockchain fund investments, but specific amounts and timings remain opaque, and MIT has not provided public comments.
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan's endowment fund has been involved with cryptocurrency investments since 2018, having invested approximately $3 million in June 2018 in a crypto-focused fund, CNK Fund I, managed by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). According to an agenda from a board meeting in February 2019, this fund has been listed as an "approved follow-up investment partner," indicating a potential intention to make additional investments, though specific amounts have not been disclosed.
Additionally, according to CoinDesk, the University of Michigan's endowment fund also began purchasing small amounts of Bitcoin on exchanges around 2020. Overall, the University of Michigan's endowment fund has indirectly invested in crypto assets through venture capital, with clear investments in the field amounting to several million dollars, but the school has not made any formal public comments on this.
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