Dartmouth endowment’s crypto exposure drops by $2M amid falling prices
Reported by Cointelegraph · AI-assisted summary by ChikoCorp AI News Desk
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Summary
Dartmouth College’s $9 billion endowment saw its crypto-related investment value decline by over $2 million between March 31 and June 30, 2026. The endowment held shares in the Bitwise Solana staking ETF, Grayscale Ethereum staking ETF, and BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin ETF, with the total value dropping from $14.6 million to $12.4 million despite holding the same number of shares. This decline was attributed to falling crypto prices.
Why it matters
The reduction in value highlights the sensitivity of university endowments to crypto market fluctuations. Dartmouth’s early move into crypto investments, starting in 2025, shows growing institutional interest in digital assets, making the performance of such investments an important indicator for other educational institutions and large investors monitoring the crypto asset class.
Key context
Dartmouth reported adding crypto exposure to its portfolio in 2025, among the first U.S. universities to do so. For comparison, Harvard’s $57 billion endowment completely liquidated its $87 million holding in BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum ETF by March 31, 2026, and had not disclosed its Q2 2026 crypto holdings. The decline in Dartmouth’s crypto investments corresponds closely with a 7.7% drop in Bitcoin, 9.6% in Solana, and 10.8% in Ether prices over the same three-month period.
Key numbers and entities
Dartmouth College’s endowment size: $9 billion. Crypto holdings value as of March 31, 2026: $14.6 million. Crypto holdings value as of June 30, 2026: $12.4 million. Price changes since March 31, 2026: Bitcoin down 7.7% to $62,915, Solana down 9.6% to $75.11, Ether down 10.8% to $1,875. Harvard University endowment: $57 billion, previously held $87 million in BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum ETF.
What remains unclear
The source does not provide details on how much each crypto ETF contributes individually to the total portfolio or any plans Dartmouth may have regarding future crypto investment adjustments. Harvard’s crypto holdings for the second quarter of 2026 were also not disclosed, leaving its current exposure unclear.