Harvard University holds over $442 million in Bitcoin through the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) ETF, more than any other stock in its portfolio. Brown University also disclosed $14 million in crypto holdings. Harvard’s investment is less than 1% of its $57 billion endowment. They did not comment on the decision.

Analyst Eric Balchunas called Harvard’s investment in IBIT a strong validation. The ETF, one of the first spot crypto ETFs in the U.S., launched in January 2024 after a long battle with the SEC. Despite a recent Bitcoin price drop, IBIT’s market cap is over $70 billion.

Harvard’s stake in the Bitcoin ETF signals growing institutional acceptance of crypto. Despite a year of industry wins, Bitcoin’s price has only risen less than 0.5% in the last year, compared to the S&P 500’s 13% increase. Bitcoin hit an all-time high last month but has since dropped to under $92,000.

Read more at Yahoo Finance: Harvard now owns nearly half a billion dollars worth of Bitcoin, filings show