Catenaa, Friday, May 09, 2025- Brown University has disclosed a nearly $5 million investment in BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF, marking its first known move into cryptocurrency-related assets, according to a Friday filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
The Ivy League institution reported owning 105,000 shares of BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), valued at $4.9 million as of March 31.
The investment was listed in its quarterly 13F-HR institutional holdings report, alongside stakes in major firms like Amazon, Google and Microsoft. Brown’s portfolio totals approximately $216 million.
Brown becomes the third academic institution publicly known to hold a Bitcoin ETF, following Emory University and the University of Austin, said VanEck’s head of digital asset research, Matthew Sigel.
The ETF, managed by BlackRock — the world’s largest asset manager — has become the most prominent product in the space. With $56.81 billion in assets under management, IBIT is the fastest ETF in history to surpass $10 billion in AUM, doing so in under two months.
Spot Bitcoin ETFs have been hailed by analysts as a transformative financial innovation, offering institutions exposure to bitcoin without direct custody risks.
Brown’s move places it among a growing list of institutions — including the State of Wisconsin Investment Board — integrating Bitcoin ETFs into their portfolios.
