Emory University Joins Bitcoin ETF Rush, Reporting $16M Holding in Grayscale Vehicle

Add Atlanta-based Emory University to the list of institutional investors taking a shine to bitcoin (BTC).

The university disclosed ownership of more than $15 million worth of shares of the Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust (BTC), according to a Friday filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. According to a top ETF analyst, the announcement marks the first endowment to publicly report exposure to bitcoin.

Emory also reported holding 4,312 shares of Coinbase, valued at $922,639 million as of press time. The university’s total assets stood at $21 billion as of August 2023, according to its most recent annual report.

Endowments are created to fund non-profit institutions like hospitals, churches or universities. Up until now, it appears no other endowment has previously publicly reported a bitcoin ETF position, according to Eric Balchunas, a senior ETF analyst for Bloomberg Intelligence.

Similar to pension funds, endowment funds prefer a risk-averse approach to their investments, making Emory’s allocation into a bitcoin ETF notable.

Pension funds, such as the State of Wisconsin, have previously reported holdings of the bitcoin ETFs. Additionally, the municipal pension plan of Jersey City, New Jersey, announced that it would allocate 2% of its assets into the ETFs.

Grayscale’s mini BTC fund launched much later than its counterparts, after the asset manager’s flagship bitcoin trust (GBTC), bled large amounts of assets largely due to its relatively high fee of 1.5%. Despite its late start, the newer product has quickly become one of the more successful bitcoin funds, currently standing in sixth place by assets under management with roughly $2.3 billion worth of bitcoin, according to Bloomberg data.

CoinDesk previously has reported on universities in investing in bitcoin, with Harvard, Yale and Brown all buying the cryptocurrency directly from Coinbase. Some of them have had accounts with the crypto exchange since 2019.