Harvard University's endowment quietly slashed its bet on Bitcoin and walked away from Ethereum entirely in the first quarter of 2026. According to a recent filing, Harvard Management Company cut its holdings in BlackRock's spot Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) by roughly 43%. It also completely liquidated its position in an Ethereum spot ETF fund. The moves mark a notable retreat from crypto by one of the world's largest university endowments.
Inside the Q1 moves
The endowment's 13F filing with the SEC for the quarter ended March 31 shows the IBIT position dropped from about 1.1 million shares to roughly 630,000 shares. Meanwhile, the Ethereum ETF — the filing doesn't name the specific fund — was sold down to zero. Harvard had first disclosed a small Ethereum ETF position in late 2025. Now it's gone.
What got sold
The IBIT reduction alone is worth tens of millions of dollars at current prices. BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF is the largest spot product on the market, and Harvard was one of the more prominent institutional holders. The Ethereum ETF liquidation is smaller in dollar terms but symbolically sharper: Harvard is effectively saying no thank you to ETH exposure right now.
University endowments have been dipping into crypto on and off since 2021, when Harvard, Yale and others invested in venture funds tied to digital assets. But direct ETF holdings are a newer, more liquid way to play. Harvard's pullback comes as Bitcoin has traded choppy through early 2026 — up from its 2025 lows but still well off its all-time high. The timing isn't great for bulls looking for institutional conviction.
Harvard Management Company hasn't commented on the rationale. The filing is backward-looking, so it doesn't reveal whether the selling continued into April or May. But the pattern is clear: the endowment is dialing back, not doubling down. Other big endowments file their 13Fs later this quarter. It'll be worth watching if they followed Harvard's lead.
