Bitcoin on Campus: Stanford Student-Run Fund’s 7% Allocation Sheds Light on Complexities of BTC Venture

• Stanford student-run fund makes a remarkable investment in Bitcoin through BlackRock’s IBIT.
• Bitcoin bulls maintain upward momentum; Bitcoin remains above $72,000.

The leader of the Stanford Blockchain club, Cole Lee, recently announced that Blyth Fund, a student-run fund managing a portion of Stanford Endowment has purchased Bitcoin at a value of 45,000. Bitcoin now makes up 7% of its portfolio. The investment was made through the iShares Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) product by BlackRock. The new development comes after a pitch on the IBIT product was presented by Lee, back in February.

Lee pointed to the rising demand for Bitcoin ETF as another factor supporting his proposal, adding that crypto exchange traders are likely to increase their Bitcoin holdings in the coming months.

“Recently, there is ~5-10x the demand from ETFs than the amount of Bitcoin produced per day. Don’t forget the additional reflexivity-as crypto exchange traders see inflows, they will buy Bitcoin as well, creating more attention & inflows.” He explained in a recent post shared on X.

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

The leading cryptocurrency remains consistent with its current uptrend, as the bull run continues into the second week of March. Bitcoin successfully surpassed $60,000 for the first time this year and for the first time since 2020. As a result, Bitcoin has set a new record of $73, 353 marking its all-time high.

Bitcoin Bulls Secure All-Time High

Additionally, the broader cryptocurrency market has recorded massive gains, as altcoins follow in Bitcoin’s path. The global crypto market cap reflects the current uptrend, with total value sitting above $2.7 trillion. This comes in the wake of a 2% surge that sees the token extend its weekly gains by more than 10%.

He cited the upcoming halving as another promising event for the Bitcoin ecosystem. Halvings have historically benefited Bitcoin’s price in the long term, and the upcoming halving scheduled for April is expected to have a similar effect on Bitcoin.

As Lee explains;

The Halvening is also coming up. Every 4 years, Bitcoin rewards for miners decrease by 50%. In April 2024, miner rewards will be halved, creating supply shocks as Bitcoin availability decreases. Every halving was a key moment that aligned with upward price action.

Lee further spotlighted a handful of other factors including monetary chaos and war, along with Tesla and El Salvador’s purchases deposited into Bitcoin in 2021 as a store of value.

Making a bold price call, Lee mirrors the sentiments of other Bitcoin proponents, saying that Bitcoin is poised to reach $110,000 and $130,000. He refers to the bullish call as a “140-180% upside target from the pitch as a completion of the cyclical”. Inflows into the Bitcoin market will become even more relentless as prices move higher, he added.