Harvard, Yale, and Brown universities have been buying Bitcoin for at least a year

According to sources, some of the largest college financial funds in the US have repeatedly bought cryptocurrency over the past year or more through accounts held on exchanges like Coinbase and others like Bitcoin system. In particular, two sources familiar with the news claim that Harvard, Yale, Brown and the University of Michigan, as well as several other colleges, have purchased cryptocurrencies directly on exchanges.

There are numerous US universities that have invested in cryptocurrencies

Speaking of the number of colleges involved in cryptocurrency investments, a source who asked to remain anonymous said they are "quite a few". “A lot of funds are allocating a certain amount of cryptocurrency at the moment,” he added.

Currently, all universities involved have not responded to requests for comment from the press. Coinbase also declined to comment on the news. University funds received a single mention in Coinbase's annual report for 2020, but without mentioning any names.

Some of the university funds in question may have activated accounts on Coinbase for up to 18 months, according to a source. "It could be from mid-2019," the source said. “Most have been involved for at least a year.

I think they will probably talk about it publicly at some point this year. " College financial funds are pools of capital accumulated by academic institutions, often in the form of charitable donations.

These funds, which support teaching and research, can be allocated to various assets for investment purposes. Harvard has the largest university fund with over $ 40 billion invested in various assets.

Yale has over $ 30 billion, Michigan University about $ 12,5 billion, while Brown holds $ 4,7 billion. It is not known how much each fund has allocated in cryptocurrency, but it is likely a fraction of the percentage of their total assets.

A long journey

Back in 2018, Yale University Chief Investment Officer David Swensen sparked amazement by backing two crypto venture funds, one managed by Andreessen Horowitz and another launched by Coinbase co-founder Fred Ehrsam and former Sequoia Capital partner Matt. Huang.

Several other universities have followed Yale in supporting crypto VCs, including Harvard, Stanford, Dartmouth College, MIT, University of North Carolina, and Michigan. Clearly, some of those universities seem to have taken the next step by investing directly in cryptocurrencies.

The second source, who is involved in the world of cryptocurrency hedge funds, has indicated "a major shift" in recent months. "We are seeing public pension plans considering allocating money to the crypto sector," the source said.

"If I had heard this three years ago, I would have said it was wrong," said Ari Paul, co-founder of BlockTower Capital, formerly an investment manager for the University of Chicago. “But many institutions are now comfortable with bitcoin. They understand this and can simply buy it directly, as long as it comes from a regulated exchange like Coinbase, Fidelity or Anchorage. "