Brown University took a significant Bitcoin gamble by buying holdings of BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT). The institution’s strategic 2025, May 3 investment signals a diversification move of investment portfolios using cryptocurrency.
Investment Details
According to SEC filings, Brown University owns 105,000 shares in the IBIT ETF, which is approximately $5.8 million. That was not the last quarter, which can amount to a gargantuan change in the investment direction by the university. The over $7.2 billion endowment on the close of fiscal year 2024 indicates open embracement of digital assets into mainstream finance.
Institutional Trend in Cryptocurrency
Brown University is not singular in this investment. The action is in line with what is being done elsewhere on campus. The University of Austin, for example, established a $5 million Bitcoin endowment fund in May 2024. Emory University also had some $22 million of Bitcoin exposure from several sources, a report states. These actions reflect growing acknowledgement by universities of the potential benefit of having cryptocurrencies in their portfolios.
Market Context
Near the beginning of May 2025, Bitcoin sits at around $96,330 after bouncing from a recent bottom of $75,000.
Price rebounding is experienced with institutional buying escalating, with institutions increasingly resorting to Bitcoin as a viable asset class amidst fluctuating market circumstances. Additional Bitcoin demand is further experienced via ETF flows, given that they continue to become popular vehicles through which to achieve cryptocurrency exposure.
This action, apart from specifying how the investment character is changing, also describes the way that traditional institutions look at digital money. There are institutions and more universities discovering the ability to invest this way, and institutional finance itself is also changing.
