Stanford University Endowment Ventures into Bitcoin with BlackRock ETF Investment

A recent decision by Stanford University’s Blyth Fund saw a 7% allocation of its endowment toward Bitcoin investments.

In an X post, leader of the Stanford Blockchain Club Kole Lee announced that Stanford Endowment bought Bitcoin at $45,000 in February.

Stanford Endowment has bought Bitcoin at 45k.

In February, pitched IBIT to Blyth Fund, the student-run fund which manages a portion of Stanford's Endowment.

Bitcoin is now ~7% of the portfolio.

Here's the pitch that convinced them to buy: pic.twitter.com/nE7PuNF7Nw

— Kole Lee (@kolelee_) March 4, 2024

Stanford Invests in Bitcoin

Lee pitched BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF to the Blyth Fund, highlighting the university’s prior purchase of Bitcoin in February at $45,000.

In his pitch, Lee said he tried to be “as objectively bullish as possible while catering to an audience of skeptics.”

His arguments centered on three major factors: ETF inflows, cycles in the crypto market, and providing a hedge against “monetary chaos and war,” he said.

Lee wrote in his post that he expects Bitcoin to reach $110,000 to $130,000, which would represent a “140-180% upside target from pitch as a completion of the cyclical.”

“Inflows continue to be relentless, and will become even more relentless as the price moves higher,” Lee said.

Blyth Fund was founded in 1978 in tribute to banker Charles Blyth and is managed by students to oversee a considerable portion of Stanford’s Endowment. Its investment portfolio spans stocks, bonds, and various assets, such as the recent addition of Bitcoin.

In an interview with Cointelegraph, Lee said that the Blyth Fund is a student-run investment club “committed to their members investing within their skill sets and passions.”

“The Blyth Funds are separately managed funds that are part of the expandable fund pool and give discretion in investing decisions to students,” Lee said. “Thus, I thought the ETF was a wonderful opportunity for Blyth to buy Bitcoin.”

Lee predicted that when Bitcoin exceeds its all-time high of $69,000, “billions of shorts will be covered, and people will become excited at ATHs, enhancing a volatile move to the upside.”

Bitcoin is currently trading at $64,481.85, according to CoinMarketCap.