Harvard SEC Filing Shows Blackrock’s Bitcoin ETF Now Leads Its Public Portfolio

CN
4 hours ago

Harvard Management Company (HMC), the steward of a slice of Harvard University’s $56.9 billion endowment, disclosed that IBIT now makes up 21.04% of its U.S. public equities portfolio, according to a Form 13F filed on Nov. 14, 2025. That amounts to 6,813,612 IBIT shares valued at roughly $442.9 million—a sizeable statement for an institution not exactly known for impulsive decision-making.

Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas weighed in on the matter Friday. “Just checked and yeah, IBIT is now Harvard’s largest position in its 13F and its biggest position increase in Q3. It’s super rare/difficult to get an endowment to bite on an ETF- esp a Harvard or Yale, it’s as good a validation as an ETF can get,” he wrote on X. “That said, half a billion is a mere 1% of total endowment. Big enough to rank 16th among IBIT holders tho,” Balchunas added.

This portfolio reflects about $2.105 billion in publicly traded securities across 18 positions, a relatively small but closely scrutinized slice of the university’s endowment. Even within that conservative lane, IBIT now outranks big-name staples like Microsoft, Amazon, and SPDR Gold Shares. Microsoft trails in second place with $322.8 million, while Amazon and GLD sit just above $235 million each—an arrangement few would have predicted a year ago.

Harvard didn’t tiptoe into this position, either. The university ramped up its IBIT holdings by 257% quarter-over-quarter, up from about 1.9 million shares in Q2. That’s an increase of roughly $326 million in value—by far the largest swing in its quarterly adjustments. For an endowment that typically treats flashy trades like a faux pas, this kind of weight shift is hard to ignore.

A move this bold from a legacy institution carries implications beyond a single SEC filing. IBIT now sits above both tech giants and gold, suggesting bitcoin exposure has officially migrated from the fringes of institutional portfolios to the main stage. And for Harvard, a school famous for its cautious approach to investment risk, giving a spot bitcoin ETF the pole position sends a clear signal that digital assets are no longer treated as speculative side quests.

The timing adds another layer of intrigue. HMC built its position during Q3 2025, when bitcoin traded between $108,000 and $119,000. The quarter-end valuation reflects a price near the upper end of that range, which means the stake is worth less at today’s $95,000 level — a reminder that 13F filings capture a single snapshot rather than real-time movements.

While a handful of other universities—Brown and Emory among them—have been quietly dipping into bitcoin ETFs, none have taken the kind of swing Harvard just did. IBIT’s dominance in the filing makes it clear that the move wasn’t symbolic. It was strategic, deliberate, and scaled up enough to make even seasoned analysts do a double-take.

Harvard’s newly crowned top holding sends a message that the once-taboo idea of adding bitcoin to institutional portfolios isn’t just acceptable—it’s becoming normalized.

  • Why did IBIT become Harvard’s largest holding?
    HMC expanded its IBIT position by 257% in Q3, making it the top-weighted asset in its public portfolio.
  • How much IBIT does Harvard hold?
    The filing reports 6.8 million shares valued at about $442.9 million.
  • Does this reflect Harvard’s full endowment allocation?
    No, the 13F only covers the publicly traded securities directly managed by HMC.
  • What does this mean for institutional bitcoin adoption?
    The move signals rising acceptance of regulated bitcoin ETFs among major U.S. institutions.

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