The endowments of Harvard University, Stanford University, Dartmouth College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of North Carolina have made investments into at least one cryptocurrency fund, a person familiar with the investments said, in a sign of the asset class’ growing acceptance among institutional investors.

While many institutions have been reluctant to invest directly in cryptocurrency because of a lack of technical knowledge and uncertainty about how to store the assets securely, the move by some top universities means that several of the most high-profile institutions in the country are finally ready to enter the sector.