By
Bhushan Akolkar
April 29th, 2024
Kole Lee, the leader of Stanford’s Blockchain Club, had pitched Blyth Fund to invest in BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF in early February.
A group of forward-thinking students have dared to challenge the status quo by merging Bitcoin, the digital darling of the financial world, with academia. This follows after the Blyth Fund decided to allocate about 7% of its portfolio to Bitcoin.
Blyth Fund Finds Bitcoin
The Blyth Fund is a student-run investment fund named after the legendary banker Charles Blyth. Since its establishment in 1978, the fund has been a stronghold of traditional investment strategies. Although it typically invests in stocks, bonds, and some other assets, this will be the first time it is diversifying into crypto.
For what it’s worth, the decision to embrace Bitcoin as an investment tool was not made lightly. It came after months of research, debate, and soul-searching. That is after Kole Lee, the leader of Stanford’s Blockchain Club, had pitched Blyth Fund to invest in BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF in early February.
In an attempt to shed more light on the daring move that saw the student-run fund allocating such a significant portion of its portfolio to Bitcoin, particularly for Bitcoin critics, Lee announced that there are three things involved. They are ETF inflows, crypto market cycles, and a hedge against monetary chaos and war.
He shared his belief that the ETF presents the perfect opportunity for Blyth to buy Bitcoin. Lee also added that if Bitcoin eventually breaks the all-time high of $69,000, that will cover billions of shorts, and people will become more excited, making room for more explosion to the upside.
BlackRock Seeks BTC Exposure
Meanwhile, it is also worth mentioning that asset manager BlackRock is currently seeking the face of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for BTC exposure. It recently filed an amendment with the regulator that will allow it to incorporate Bitcoin exposure in its Strategic Income Opportunities Fund (BSIIX).
Moreso, BlackRock’s recently launched spot Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) is the best-performing of the newly launched batch of nine funds. On March 4 alone, the fund saw an inflow of $420 million and has now surpassed $11 billion in assets under management. Interestingly, IBIT is the same fund that Lee pitched to the Blyth Fund in February, which has now caused the latest investment.
For many, Bitcoin remains a mysterious enigma – a digital curiosity that exists somewhere on the fringes of the financial system. But for the students of the Blyth Fund, it represents something more. It is an unparalleled opportunity to challenge convention, to embrace innovation, and to shape the future of finance.