The nearly four-hundred-year-old university now holds $116 million worth of Bitcoin exchange-traded funds.
A Harvard University economist predicted in 2018 that Bitcoin would more likely hit only $100 than $100,000 in the coming decade. However, things appear to have taken an interesting turn in the years since.
A regulatory filing from the investment arm of Harvard, released last week, revealed that the nearly 400-year-old university now holds $116 million worth of Bitcoin exchange-traded funds, providing another indication of the widespread adoption of digital assets in Donald Trump’s era.
The 13-F filing by Harvard with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission revealed that its purchases of the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF exceeded its holdings of Alphabet, as per Bitcoin.com. Retail sentiment on Stocktwits about the Bitcoin-focused ETF was in the ‘neutral’ territory at the time of writing.
Incidentally, the President has clashed with Harvard over the past months over several political issues.
According to CoinMarketCap data, the valuation of the biggest cryptocurrency has risen from $65.33 billion at the end of 2018 to over $2.55 trillion as of Monday. The valuation is higher than that of nearly all S&P 500 companies, except for tech giants Nvidia, Microsoft, and Apple.
On Monday, Bitcoin briefly surged past $122,000, closing in on all-time highs, before giving back some of the gains. Ether, the second biggest digital asset in terms of market capitalization, also hit above $4,300, its highest level since 2021.
Cryptocurrency prices have skyrocketed since Trump was sworn in for a second term. He has dubbed himself the crypto-friendly president, and his Republican allies in Congress have swiftly moved to clear regulatory hurdles for digital assets.
Congress has already passed legislation that will create a regulatory framework for stablecoins, which are pegged 1:1 to the U.S. dollar, and is also looking to advance a broader crypto regulatory bill.
Last week, Trump issued an executive order, instructing the Labor Department to explore the possibility of allowing cryptocurrency, private equity, and other alternative assets in 401(k) retirement plans, which could further boost inflows.
“If you don’t stop buying Bitcoin, you won’t stop making Money,” Michael Saylor, the co-founder of MicroStrategy, wrote on X.
Major Wall Street banks, which have shied away from digital assets for years, are also exploring ventures into cryptocurrencies. Bank of America and Citigroup are developing their own stablecoins, while J.P. Morgan & Chase, the largest U.S. bank, is reportedly exploring lending against clients’ cryptocurrency holdings.
JPMorgan Chief Jamie Dimon, who had called Bitcoin a ‘fraud’ in 2017, has also softened his stance. “I don’t think you should smoke, but I defend your right to smoke. I defend your right to buy bitcoin,” he had said in May.
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