Charitable organizations and university endowments in the United States are increasing their holdings of cryptocurrencies amid a rush into digital assets after President Donald Trump pledged to turn the country into a “bitcoin superpower,” the Financial Times reported on Sunday.
The University of Austin, founded last year in the Texas capital, is raising $5 million for the country’s first-ever bitcoin fund, part of its $200 million endowment. Georgia’s Emory University in October became the first college whose endowment disclosed holdings of bitcoin exchange-traded funds.
They’re among the colleges that have sought to diversify their investment portfolios with cryptocurrencies, which as an asset class have outperformed others amid significant price swings. An index compiled by Bitwise Asset Management that tracks the 10 most valuable cryptocurrencies gained 64% a year in the past five years, beating the 14.5% for U.S. stocks, the FT reported.
Yale University’s endowment in 2018 invested in two cryptocurrency venture funds, when bitcoin prices were less than a tenth of today’s level.
The Rockefeller Foundation, which oversees $4.8 billion and focuses on funding medical research and the arts, is weighing whether to increase its cryptocurrency holdings after investing two crypto venture funds two years ago.
Fear of missing out on an asset class that has potential to become more valuable is one reason to increase exposure to crypto, with Chun Lai, the foundation’s chief investment officer, telling the newspaper: “We don’t want to be left behind when their potential materializes dramatically.”
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