Brown College has made its first reported foray into Bitcoin (BTC), investing $4.9 million in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Belief (IBIT), in response to a current 13F submitting submitted to the US Securities and Change Fee.
The Ivy League establishment acquired 105,000 shares of the ETF through the first quarter, making the place roughly 2.3% of its reported $216 million fairness holdings.
The acquisition provides Brown to a rising roster of conventional establishments turning to regulated automobiles for digital asset publicity.
Adoption through Bitcoin ETFs
Designed to trace the worth of Bitcoin instantly, spot Bitcoin ETFs have seen widespread adoption throughout hedge funds, pensions, and now college endowments.
BlackRock’s IBIT has emerged as a popular entry level for establishments for the reason that SEC authorised it in January 2024. In lower than a yr, the fund turned one of many best-performing ETFs available in the market’s historical past.
As of March 31, IBIT held roughly 576,038 Bitcoin, equating to internet belongings of $47.78 billion.
Brown’s choice displays a broader development amongst long-term asset managers looking for Bitcoin publicity via acquainted monetary buildings. Spot ETFs like IBIT enable establishments to entry Bitcoin with out the operational burden of custody or direct token administration.
Universities embracing Bitcoin
Whereas college endowments have largely remained cautious, current months have seen a shift. The College of Austin introduced in February that it might allocate $5 million of its endowment to Bitcoin.
The fund could be held in partnership with Unchained and was arrange with a five-year minimal holding interval.
Different colleges, together with Stanford and Emory, have additionally reported publicity to Bitcoin via regulated funding merchandise. These strikes recommend a gradual normalization of digital belongings inside institutional portfolios as soon as thought-about too conservative for crypto holdings.
On the time of the disclosure, Bitcoin was buying and selling just below $97,000, primarily based on CryptoSlate information.
Bitcoin Market Knowledge
On the time of press 1:40 am UTC on Might. 3, 2025, Bitcoin is ranked #1 by market cap and the worth is down 0.02% over the previous 24 hours. Bitcoin has a market capitalization of $1.92 trillion with a 24-hour buying and selling quantity of $25.39 billion. Study extra about Bitcoin ›
Crypto Market Abstract
On the time of press 1:40 am UTC on Might. 3, 2025, the entire crypto market is valued at at $3.01 trillion with a 24-hour quantity of $70.18 billion. Bitcoin dominance is at present at 63.80%. Study extra in regards to the crypto market ›
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