Brown University Becomes the First Ivy League Institution to Invest in Bitcoin

According to a recently released 13F filing, the university acquired 105,000 shares of BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT)

Brown University, a member of the Ivy League, has become the first university in the league to invest in Bitcoin, according to a 13F filing.

The university acquired 105,000 shares of BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (NYSE: IBIT), a position that was valued at nearly $5 million as of March 31, 2025. This places Brown among a small but growing group of U.S. universities allocating part of their endowments to digital assets.

Emory University in Atlanta and the University of Austin (UATX) are two other American universities known to have invested in Bitcoin. However, Brown's entry is notable due to the Ivy League status, which carries significant weight in both academic and financial domains.

Among the most prestigious universities in the country, Brown's decision to embrace crypto signals a notable shift in how traditional institutions are beginning to view digital currencies.

The university's endowment, currently valued at $7.2 billion, reported an impressive 11.3% return in 2024, equivalent to $728 million in gains.

Historically, Brown's investment portfolio has included a diverse mix of assets such as private equity, real estate, fixed income, and short-term instruments. The addition of Bitcoin exposure through BlackRock's ETF indicates a careful but forward-looking approach.

Rather than buying and managing Bitcoin directly, which involves significant security and custodial considerations, Brown opted for exposure through a regulated and institutionally backed vehicle.

The choice of BlackRock's IBIT fund is telling. As one of the largest asset managers in the world, BlackRock provides institutional-grade access to Bitcoin through a product that is compliant with U.S. regulations.

IBIT has quickly become a favored entry point for traditional investors seeking Bitcoin exposure without the technical complexities of holding the cryptocurrency directly. The fund recently recorded 13 consecutive days of positive inflows, including nearly $1 billion in a single day on April 28. Its assets under management now stand at $58.7 billion, highlighting the strong demand among institutional investors.

Brown's move comes amid a broader trend of increasing institutional interest in Bitcoin. In recent months, a growing number of professional investors and organizations have turned to Bitcoin both as a hedge against inflation and a long-term growth asset.

Industry experts, including Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley, have noted that recent rallies in Bitcoin's price have largely been fueled by institutional buyers rather than retail traders.

This landmark investment could serve as a catalyst for other elite universities to reconsider their positions on cryptocurrency. Ivy League schools are often viewed as financial bellwethers in the education sector, and Brown's decision may prompt schools like Harvard, Yale, and Princeton to evaluate whether digital assets belong in their own endowment strategies.

What was once considered a fringe investment is now being incorporated into the financial strategies of some of the country's most risk-averse and influential institutions.

Brown University's entry into the crypto space represents a broader shift in the perception of Bitcoin from a speculative asset to a legitimate component of diversified investment portfolios.

As more established entities begin to enter the space, the line between traditional finance and digital assets continues to blur—suggesting that institutional adoption is not just a trend, but a transformative shift in global finance.