The Ivy League’s Brown University has millions of dollars' worth of Bitcoin exposure via BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) ETF, according to a new 13F-HR filing with the SEC. 

The holdings report filed on Friday shows the university owned 105,000 shares of IBIT, valued around $4.9 million as of the first quarter’s end on March 31. The IBIT shares were not listed on the previous quarter’s filing.

The shares are currently valued at about $5.8 million. While a significant investment, the position is just a drop in the bucket for an endowment that increased to more than $7.2 billion at the end of its 2024 fiscal year.

“Over the past few decades, the financial markets have significantly increased in complexity, and as the value of the endowment has grown, Brown has adapted,” its 2024 endowment report reads. “Today, a team of professional investors pursues a diverse set of investment strategies that require high levels of expertise and investment acumen.”

The university’s portfolio includes diversified holdings that include “investments in stocks, bonds, private companies, real estate, and commodities.”



Brown is not the first university to seek exposure to Bitcoin. 

In May 2024, the University of Austin (UATX) collaborated with Bitcoin services company Unchained to create a $5 million Bitcoin endowment. 

Then in October, Atlanta’s Emory University reported nearly $16 million in Bitcoin exposure via the Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust. Its most recently filed holdings report shows a reduction in shares, but around $22 million in Bitcoin exposure thanks to the asset’s price rise. It also showcases more than $1 million worth of shares in leading crypto exchange, Coinbase.

The trio of universities fit alongside a growing list of institutions—from publicly traded companies to world governments—that are racing to gain access to crypto’s largest asset by market cap. 

The price of Bitcoin neared $98,000 on Friday for the first time since February, rebounding from a local low around $75,000 in early April. It's currently priced at $96,330.

Decrypt attempted to contact Brown’s investment office for comment, but was unable to reach a representative before the publication of this article.

Edited by Andrew Hayward

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