Endowment funds of some universities in the United States have purchased cryptocurrency through accounts at Coinbase and other cryptocurrency exchanges over the past year.
According to two sources familiar with the situation, Harvard, Yale and Michigan universities, Brown University, and several other US institutions of higher education bought cryptocurrency through exchanges. Recall that in the fall of 2018, the five largest US universities invested in cryptocurrency funds.
“There are quite a few,” said a source who asked to remain anonymous. “Many funds are currently setting aside a small amount to invest in cryptocurrency.”
Yale and Brown University did not respond to requests for comment. The Trust Funds of Harvard and Michigan University declined to comment. Coinbase also declined to comment. In the exchange’s 2020 annual report, university trust funds were mentioned only once, but without disclosing their names.
According to another source, who also asked to remain anonymous, some of the listed university funds may have had accounts with Coinbase for at least 18 months:
“They could have started buying cryptocurrency back in mid-2019. Most of them have accounts for at least a year. I think universities will make this information public this year. ”
Endowment funds in universities are pools of capital accumulated by educational organizations, often in the form of charitable donations. These funds, which support training and research, can be allocated to various assets for investment purposes.
Harvard and Yale have the largest funds with assets of more than $ 40 billion and $ 30 billion, respectively. The University of Michigan fund is about $ 12.5 billion, and the Brown University fund is $ 4.7 billion.
Institutional investor interest in crypto assets continues to grow. Earlier this month, the CEO of Grayscale Investments said the company expects heightened interest in cryptocurrencies from pension funds, which will fuel the market’s growth.
