Harvard Reduces BlackRock Bitcoin ETF Position By 43 Percent

The crypto ETF market is beginning to reveal an unexpected rift among the world’s largest financial institutions. On one side, some sovereign investors are aggressively increasing their positions on bitcoin. On the other, Harvard has just drastically reduced its exposure to BlackRock Bitcoin ETFs while fully liquidating its Ethereum position. The latest documents submitted to the SEC show a major strategic shift by the prestigious American endowment fund, at the very moment Wall Street is still trying to define its true approach to cryptos.

Harvard drastically reduces its crypto positions

Harvard Management Company sharply decreased its crypto exposure in the first quarter of 2026, after an increase in the fourth quarter of 2025. The 13F regulatory filings show several major moves :

• A sale of about 43% of its stake in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) spot Bitcoin ETF ;
• The remaining position of 3,044,612 IBIT shares, valued at about 117 million dollars ;
• This reduction had already started in the fourth quarter of 2025 with a 21% decrease ;
• The complete liquidation of the position in BlackRock’s Ethereum spot ETF ETHA, estimated at 86.8 million dollars.

This withdrawal is all the more striking because Harvard was among the institutional investors most exposed to American crypto ETFs. At its peak exposure, the fund held nearly 443 million dollars in IBIT shares in the third quarter of 2025.

The new documents filed with the SEC also show a reallocation towards more traditional stocks such as TSMC, Microsoft, Alphabet, and SPDR Gold Trust. Several hypotheses are suggested : portfolio rebalancing, tactical risk reduction, or arbitrage in favor of less risky assets in the current macroeconomic context.

Mubadala and JPMorgan continue accumulating bitcoin

In contrast to Harvard, several major institutions continue to increase their exposure to bitcoin via American spot ETFs. The most spectacular case remains the Abu Dhabi sovereign fund Mubadala. According to the latest regulatory filings, the institution now holds 14,721,917 IBIT shares, worth approximately 566 million dollars.

This accumulation fits into a strategy carried out quarter after quarter since late 2024. Other American financial players also follow this trend, notably JPMorgan, which increased its IBIT exposure by 174 %.

The institutional market now appears deeply fragmented. Some hedge funds are reducing their positions, such as Jane Street, which decreased its exposure to IBIT by 71 % and to FBTC by 60 %. Other financial institutions continue to strengthen their presence in crypto ETFs, like Wells Fargo on Ethereum. This divergence reflects an important market evolution : Bitcoin ETFs are no longer subject to a single consensus among institutional investors. Strategies become more opportunistic, more tactical, and sometimes even opposed depending on risk profiles and investment horizons.

The upcoming regulatory filings for the second quarter, expected during the summer, will be closely monitored by the markets. They will help determine whether Harvard’s reduction marks the beginning of a wider disengagement by major American funds or if it is simply an isolated adjustment. One thing is already clear: the arrival of spot ETFs has brought bitcoin into the classic arbitrage of global finance, with the same sector rotations, profit-taking, and defensive strategies as traditional assets.