Emory University tiptoed toward bitcoin during the third trimester.
The Georgia-based private research university reported owning more than 1 million shares of the Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust as of Sept. 30, according to a 13F filing on Thursday. That stake was worth approximately nearly $52 billion at the time, although it is now considerably less at current prices. At the end of the second quarter, the school owned just under 500,000 shares of the fund.
The university first disclosed a position in the Grayscale trust in October 2024, then valued at just over $15 million.
Emory’s much smaller position in BlackRock’s spot bitcoin ETF was unchanged in the third quarter and valued at just about $290,000.
Wealth fund managers’ interest in hard assets was also reflected in a new move into BlackRock’s iShares Gold Trust (IAU), with a stake of nearly $79 million in that fund at the end of the third quarter.
The university’s endowment also modestly increased its equity stake in the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase (COIN). He now owns nearly 4,500 shares worth about $1.2 million, up slightly from the 4,312 shares he has owned since last year.
Endowments are long-term investment funds that are typically created to support nonprofit organizations such as universities, hospitals, or religious institutions. Like pension funds, they tend to favor relatively conservative strategies, making their growing interest in bitcoin through regulated ETFs a notable change.
Emory’s broader adoption of bitcoin ETFs could be seen as part of a slow but steady thaw among institutional investors. While it remains a small part of its overall portfolio, the size and pace of Emory’s bitcoin allocations indicate a growing level of comfort with the asset, especially when held in familiar wrappers like ETFs.
