Harvard Pivots: -21% Bitcoin, First $87M Ethereum Position

Harvard pivots: less Bitcoin, first Ethereum position

Harvard Management Company (HMC), which manages the university’s $56.9 billion endowment, reduced its Bitcoin exposure by 21% in Q4 2025 while initiating its first position in an Ethereum ETF. This reallocation, revealed in an SEC filing on February 14, 2026, marks a turning point in the crypto strategy of one of the world’s most prestigious academic institutions.

The fund now holds 5.35 million shares of BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), down from 6.81 million the previous quarter. Meanwhile, it acquired 3.87 million shares of the iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA), valued at $86.8 million at year-end.

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Diversification rather than abandonment

Despite the reduction, Bitcoin remains Harvard’s largest declared equity position — ahead of Alphabet, Amazon, and Microsoft. Total crypto ETF exposure reaches $352.6 million, roughly 1% of assets under management.

Harvard’s Bitcoin journey

The university first entered Bitcoin funds in Q2 2025 with a $117 million allocation. This position was tripled to reach $442.8 million in November, before being reduced in this latest filing.

This trajectory — entry, expansion, then adjustment — suggests active management rather than a passive buy-and-hold strategy. Institutional observers see this as a sign of increasing sophistication.

Why Ethereum now?

Adding Ethereum follows a diversification logic. According to Sean Bill, co-founder of Bitcoin Standard Treasury Company, Harvard may be making “a relative value trade with the belief that ETH is undervalued relative to BTC.”

Jennifer Ouarrag, Head of Legal at Twinstake, notes this differentiation reflects a more nuanced view: “Bitcoin remains the institutional store-of-value proxy, while Ethereum offers exposure to a broader smart contract ecosystem.”

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A turbulent market context

These adjustments come in a particularly volatile environment. Bitcoin dropped from $126,000 in October 2025 to $88,429 at year-end, and currently trades around $69,000.

Bitcoin ETFs under pressure

US spot Bitcoin ETFs have experienced massive outflows since November 2025:

• $5.7 billion in outflows between November and January according to Morningstar
• $2.8 billion in outflows from IBIT alone over the past three months
• The Fear & Greed Index hit a historic low of 5 in early February

In this context, Harvard’s reduction can be interpreted as prudent risk management rather than a loss of conviction.

What this allocation signals

For analysts, Harvard’s move represents a signal of institutional maturation rather than a vote of no confidence in cryptocurrencies.

“The thesis works, let’s build a portfolio”

Iva Wisher, founder of Midl, calls this reallocation a “textbook allocator move”: “Someone on Harvard’s committee probably said ‘the thesis works, now let’s build a real portfolio around it.’ When a $50 billion endowment starts treating digital assets as an asset class rather than a single bet, that’s a maturity signal.”

Bitcoin = money, Ethereum = infrastructure

Nima Beni, founder of Bitlease, highlights the fundamental difference: “One functions as immutable money. The other is programmable infrastructure. Both belong in institutional portfolios, but treating them as substitutes risks misunderstanding their structural differences.”

This distinction could explain why Harvard maintains a dominant Bitcoin position while diversifying into Ethereum.

Academic critics persist

Despite growing institutional adoption, critical voices are rising from within the academic community itself.

Andrew F. Siegel, emeritus professor of finance at the University of Washington, describes the Bitcoin allocation as “risky,” citing its 22.8% year-to-date decline and lack of intrinsic value.

Avanidhar Subrahmanyam, a finance professor at UCLA, indicates that adding Ethereum reinforces his reservations: “Cryptocurrency remains an unproven asset class with unclear valuation frameworks.”

These criticisms remind us that institutional adoption isn’t unanimous, even among academic elites.

Market implications

Harvard’s positioning could influence other university endowments and institutional funds in their approach to crypto assets.

Legitimization effect

Harvard isn’t alone. Other American universities like Yale, MIT, and Stanford have also invested in crypto funds or blockchain companies. Harvard’s diversification into Ethereum could accelerate ETH ETF adoption by other institutions.

An active management model

Harvard’s strategy — buy, accumulate, then adjust based on market conditions — offers a model for institutional managers hesitating between long-term conviction and tactical management.

Abdul Rafay Gadit, co-founder of Zigchain, summarizes: “The most significant signal isn’t the precise ETF weighting in a single quarter, but whether institutions are incrementally expanding their comfort with on-chain infrastructure over time.”