Harvard Bets Big on Bitcoin With $443M Stake, Outpacing Gold 2-to-1
Harvard University expanded its Bitcoin ETF holdings by 257% within the third quarter, making the iShares Bitcoin Trust its largest disclosed position with $442.8 million as of September 30.
According to Matt Hougan, Bitwise CIO, Harvard concurrently elevated its gold ETF holdings by 99% to $235 million, allocating to Bitcoin at a 2-to-1 ratio relative to gold.
The $443 million place represents roughly 0.75% of Harvard’s $57 billion endowment, rating the establishment among the many top 20 largest holders of the BlackRock-managed fund.
Timing Proves Problematic as Bitcoin Tumbles
Harvard’s aggressive Bitcoin accumulation got here proper earlier than a pointy market correction that has erased substantial worth from its cryptocurrency holdings.
Bitcoin has dropped greater than 20% because the third quarter ended, falling from $114,000 to round $92,000.
The timing suggests Harvard may face a 14% loss on its third-quarter purchases within the best-case state of affairs, assuming shares have been purchased at July’s low level, which represents an $89 million paper loss on the latest place alone.
While the losses stay a fraction of Harvard’s huge endowment, the college’s annualized returns have lagged behind some Ivy League friends over the previous decade, in line with WSJ.
Harvard posted an 8.2% return rating ninth out of 10 elite faculties in a Markov Processes International comparability. For the 12 months ending June 30, Harvard reported an 11.9% achieve however trailed MIT’s 14.8% and Stanford’s 14.3%.
Stanford finance professor Joshua Rauh explained in an interview with The Harvard Crimson that “traders typically appear to view each bitcoin and gold as hedges towards a collapse of the worldwide financial system typically, and towards a lack of the US greenback particularly.”
However, he cautioned that “the extent to which both truly protects traders from these forces is unsure and scenario-dependent.“
Academic Skepticism Meets Institutional Validation
Harvard’s substantial Bitcoin allocation stands in stark distinction to earlier predictions from its personal economics college.
Kenneth Rogoff, a Harvard professor and former IMF chief economist, said in 2018 that Bitcoin would extra doubtless commerce at $100 than $100,000 inside a decade.
“I believe bitcoin can be value a tiny fraction of what it’s now if we’re headed out 10 years from now,” Rogoff advised CNBC, arguing that eradicating cash laundering and tax evasion would go away Bitcoin with “very small” transaction makes use of.
Rogoff recently acknowledged his misjudgment in his new book “Our Dollar, Your Problem,” writing, “I used to be far too optimistic concerning the US coming to its senses about smart cryptocurrency regulation.”
Harvard economist @krogoff admits his $100 Bitcoin crash prediction was incorrect as $BTC trades above $115,000.#Bitcoin #Harvardhttps://t.co/AX8l7Aitxz
— Cryptonews.com (@cryptonews) August 20, 2025
He added that he “didn’t anticipate a scenario the place regulators, and particularly the regulator in chief, would have the ability to openly maintain a whole lot of tens of millions (if not billions) of {dollars} in cryptocurrencies seemingly with out consequence given the blatant battle of curiosity.“
Despite rising institutional adoption, criticism of Harvard’s Bitcoin funding has intensified.
MarketWatch columnist Brett Arends called the funding an “environmental disaster,” noting that Bitcoin’s world computing community makes use of extra vitality than Thailand or Poland yearly.
Meanwhile, Stanford professor Darrell Duffie additionally expressed shock on the funding, stating, “Bitcoin doesn’t pay dividends and has restricted makes use of as a fee instrument.“
Bitcoin’s Path Forward Remains Uncertain
Bitcoin is struggling to search out course amid ETF outflows and weakening market sentiment, creating uncertainty about whether or not it could reclaim the $100,000 threshold.
More than $2.7 billion has left Bitcoin ETF products over the previous 5 weeks.
Speaking with Cryptonews, Arthur Azizov, Founder and Investor at B2 Ventures, described the present scenario as “a market that has misplaced its anchor on the precise second it wanted stability.“
He famous a disconnect with conventional markets, declaring that “the S&P 500 is up greater than 16% this 12 months, whereas Bitcoin is down about 3%.“
Azizov recognized key resistance ranges forward, explaining that “a big share of Bitcoin is presently held at a loss, so every transfer towards $96,000–$100,000 meets promoting from holders who need to exit at break-even.”
He added that roughly $3.35 billion in Bitcoin choices expire round a $91,000 space of curiosity, making merchants cautious.
“Only a robust transfer above $100,000 may flip the script, restore confidence, and open the way in which towards $120,000+ degree,” Azizov said.
“If that fails, a deeper pullback to the broad $82,000–$88,000 zone could also be wanted to try to interrupt the $100k ceiling as soon as once more.“
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