Here’s Why This Student-Run Investment Fund Allocated 7% of its Portfolio to Bitcoin

The Stanford Blyth Fund, a student-run investment entity at the university, purchased Bitcoin (BTC) at $45,000 in February after a scholar pitched the asset during a meeting.

According to a tweet by Kole Lee, a computer science major and leader at the Stanford Blockchain Club, the Blyth Fund has allocated approximately 7% of its portfolio to Bitcoin following the purchase.

Stanford Endowment Buys BTC

The Blyth Fund, created in 1978 by an anonymous donor in honor of legendary banker Charles Blyth, manages a six-figure portion of Stanford University’s endowment through investments in assets like stocks and bonds.

The fund supports education by giving students an opportunity to invest their money and channeling 25% of the investment returns to Stanford University’s financial aid.

During Lee’s pitch to the fund in February, he focused on crypto market cycles, exchange-traded fund (ETF) inflows, and a hedge against “monetary chaos and war.” The computer science scholar pushed the idea of investing in the iShares Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) issued by BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager. The outcome of the pitch was a BTC purchase and a 7% portfolio allocation to the leading digital asset.

Notably, IBIT is the largest and best-performing product of the ten spot Bitcoin ETFs, with more than $11 billion in assets under management and a daily inflow of $420 million on March 4.

Rising BTC Adoption

The Blyth Fund’s BTC purchase is evidence of the rising adoption of the relatively novel digital asset. The launch of spot Bitcoin ETFs in the United States has driven BTC adoption to unprecedented levels, giving room for the inflow of billions of dollars in capital from the traditional finance sector.

Heavy ETF volumes and inflows have also driven the price of BTC to levels last seen in November 2021, during the last bull cycle. The crypto asset broke the $68,000 level on Tuesday morning and painted a new ATH later that day before a massive correction. Data from CoinMarketCap shows BTC changed hands at $66,700 at the time of writing.

Meanwhile, the ten ETFs witnessed their biggest trading volume day on March 5, recording roughly $10 billion, with IBIT alone responsible for the largest portion.