London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Jul 02, 2025

Duke University’s Early Investment in Coinbase Is Now Likely Worth $500M

Duke University’s Early Investment in Coinbase Is Now Likely Worth $500M

Duke’s direct exposure to Coinbase in one of its early investment rounds has probably increased 100x, two people familiar with the matter said.

The endowment fund of Duke University, the alma mater of Coinbase co-founder Fred Ehrsam, was one of the fortunate few to have made an early investment in the soon-to-list cryptocurrency exchange, CoinDesk has learned.

Two people familiar with the matter said the $3.9 billion Duke Endowment was included early on in the cap table of Coinbase, which is expected to command a price tag of around $100 billion when its shares debut on Nasdaq. Those shares are now worth a small fortune, on the order of nine figures, the sources said.

“The Duke University endowment has direct Coinbase exposure because Fred [Ehrsam] approached Duke for one of the early rounds,” said a source who was part of the venture capital community at that time. “They probably 100x’d their money, after dilution. So even if they only put in $5 million, they just made $500 million, which is a lot for an endowment.”

Coinbase declined to comment. Duke Endowment did not immediately return requests for comment.

The VC veteran said it was most likely the 2015 Series C round in which Duke participated. CoinDesk was unable to confirm the exact size of the investment.

University endowments have long been seen as a leading indicator of the institutional stampede into crypto investing. While the Duke investment was at a remove from the assets themselves, the bet on what has become a key piece of market infrastructure appears to have paid off handsomely.

In 2015, Coinbase raised $75 million as part of a Series C funding round backed by the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), USAA, Spanish bank BBVA and Japanese telco DoCoMo. The exchange’s 2017 Series D round raised $100 million from Institutional Venture Partners (IVP), Battery Ventures, Draper Associates, Greylock Partners, Section 32 and Spark Capital.

“By virtue of having been successful in crypto, these early investors are now believers,” the VC source, who was not authorized to speak about the investment on the record, told CoinDesk. “It’s like, ‘Hey, this thing actually worked.’ And so I suspect a lot of that money gets recycled back into crypto.”

Indeed, Duke’s approach may even be on the cautious side. In January, CoinDesk reported Ivy League colleges including Harvard and Yale had been buying cryptocurrency directly from Coinbase over the past year, prior to the current bull run.Read more: Harvard, Yale, Brown Endowments Have Been Buying Bitcoin for at Least a Year: Sources

In the case of North Carolina-based Duke, crypto and blockchain have been in the blood of the college for quite some time. Indeed, Campbell Harvey, a finance professor at Duke’s Fuqua School of Business, teaches a course that now covers decentralized finance (DeFi).

Professor Harvey said Ersham was a recent speaker in his course; the star alumnus first came in and talked about Coinbase the first year Harvey ran the course back in 2014.

Harvey said he could not talk about the Duke endowment specifically, but said he has been a longtime advocate of investing in early-stage startups for university endowments.

“University endowments often have a very long time horizon, so it’s not unusual to have a greater than average exposure to early stage ventures,” said Harvey. “They are looking for that 100x.”

Source: Fintechs.fi

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Largest Healthcare Fraud Takedown in U.S. History Announced by DOJ
Poland Implements Border Checks Amid Growing Migration Tensions
Political Dispute Escalates Between Trump and Musk
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
Amazon Reaches Milestone with Deployment of One Millionth Robot
US Senate Votes to Remove AI Regulation Moratorium from Domestic Policy Bill
Yulia Putintseva Calls for Spectator Ejection at Wimbledon Over Safety Concerns
Jury Deliberations in Diddy Trial Yield Partial Verdict in Serious Criminal Charges
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
King Charles Plans Significant Role for Prince Harry in Coronation
Two Chinese Nationals Arrested for Espionage Activities Against U.S. Navy
Amazon Reaches Major Automation Milestone with Over One Million Robots
Extreme Heat Wave Sweeps Across Europe, Hitting Record Temperatures
Meta Announces Formation of Ambitious AI Unit, Meta Superintelligence Labs
Robots Compete in Football Tournament in China Amid Injuries
Trump Administration Considers Withdrawal of Funding for Hospitals Providing Gender Treatment to Minors
Texas Enacts Law Allowing Gold and Silver Transactions
China Unveils Miniature Insect-Like Surveillance Drone
OpenAI Secures Multimillion-Dollar AI Contracts with Pentagon, India, and Grab
Marc Marquez Claims Victory at Dutch Grand Prix Amidst Family Misfortune
Germany Votes to Suspend Family Reunification for Asylum Seekers
Elon Musk Critiques Senate Budget Proposal Over Job Losses and Strategic Risks
Los Angeles Riots ended with Federal Investigations into Funding
Budapest Pride Parade Draws 200,000 Participants Amid Government Ban
Southern Europe Experiences Extreme Heat
Xiaomi's YU7 SUV Launch Garners Record Pre-Orders Amid Market Challenges
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez's Lavish Wedding in Venice
Russia Launches Largest Air Assault on Ukraine Since Invasion
Education Secretary Announces Overhaul of Complaints System Amid Rising Parental Grievances
Massive Anti-Government Protests Erupt in Belgrade
Trump Ends Trade Talks with Canada Over Digital Services Tax
UK Government Softens Welfare Reform Plans Amid Labour Party Rebellion
Labour Faces Rebellion Over Disability Benefit Reforms Ahead of Key Vote
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Host Lavish Wedding in Venice Amid Protests
Trump Asserts Readiness for Further Strikes on Iran Amid Nuclear Tensions
North Korea to Open New Beach Resort to Boost Tourism Economy
UK Labour Party Faces Internal Tensions Over Welfare Reforms
Andrew Cuomo Hints at Potential November Comeback Amid Democratic Primary Results
Curtis Sliwa Champions His Vision for New York City Amid Rising Crime Concerns
Federal Reserve Proposes Changes to Capital Rule Affecting Major Banks
EU TO HUNGARY: LET THEM PRIDE OR PREP FOR SHADE. ORBÁN TO EU: STAY IN YOUR LANE AND FIX YOUR OWN MESS.
Trump Escalates Criticism of Media Over Iran Strike Coverage
Trump Announces Upcoming US-Iran Meeting Amid Controversial Airstrikes
Trump Moves to Reshape Middle East Following Israel-Iran Conflict
Big Four Accounting Firms Fined in Exam Cheating Scandal
NATO Members Agree to 5% Defense Spending Target by 2035
Australia's Star Casino Secures $195 Million Rescue Package Amid Challenges
UK to Enhance Nuclear Capabilities with Acquisition of F-35A Fighter Jets
Russian Shadow Payments via Cryptocurrency Reach $9 Billion
Explosions Rock Doha as Iranian Missiles Target Qatar
×