Harvard University's endowment manager, Harvard Management Company (HMC), has made a landmark strategic shift, tripling its stake in the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) to approximately $442.8 million, according to its latest 13F filing for the period ending September 30, 2025. This massive 257% increase elevates the Bitcoin ETF to become the endowment's single largest publicly disclosed U.S. equity holding, surpassing its stakes in major technology companies.
The filing reveals Harvard now holds about 6.81 million shares of IBIT, a position valued at roughly $442.8 million. This allocation represents approximately 21.04% of Harvard's publicly reported U.S. equities portfolio and places the university as the 16th-largest holder globally of the BlackRock-managed fund. In stark contrast, Harvard's disclosed holdings in Alphabet Inc. (Google's parent company) are valued at about $157.1 million, while its position in the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) is valued at roughly $235.1 million.
This move signals a profound change in institutional posture. While the IBIT position constitutes only about 1% of Harvard's total $56.9 billion endowment, its prominence within the public equity portfolio is highly symbolic. The endowment also nearly doubled its gold ETF position, suggesting a dual-hedge strategy against monetary instability rather than a purely speculative bet on Bitcoin.
The approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs in the United States earlier in 2025 has paved the way for such institutional adoption, offering regulated exposure with daily liquidity and reduced custody risks. Harvard's allocation comes amid steady inflows into Bitcoin ETFs, with market participants closely monitoring the participation levels of other large, traditionally conservative institutions like pension funds and university endowments.
