Harvard Management Company (HMC), which manages Harvard University’s endowment fund in the US, has adjusted its digital asset portfolio by reducing its holdings in Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to include exposure to Ethereum’s cryptocurrency, Ether (ETH), for the first time.
This portfolio reorganization was announced last Friday through a Form 13F filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on February 13th. This is a required quarterly filing for institutional investors managing $100 million or more in assets.
The report states that at the end of December 31, American universities There was a total exposure of $352 million. For financial products based on both digital assets.
Let’s be clear that in the SEC’s official 13F report, the “VALUE (x$1000)” column means the number is in thousands of dollars. But in summaries, tables, or images like the one you see here, the numbers are already expanded to full dollar values. “(x$1000)” remains as a label in its original form, but there is no need to multiply it with anything further. The amount shown is the final amount in USD.
In addition to Bitcoin and Ether ETFs, Harvard also invests in stocks of various large companies. The most notable positions at the end of the quarter included Alphabet (Google, $253 million), Microsoft ($237 million), Booking Holdings ($180 million), Amazon ($157 million), Broadcom ($111 million), and SPDR Gold Shares (gold ETF, $248 million).
Specifically, Harvard University owned 5.35 million shares of iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), which is managed by BlackRock. Position valued at $265 million at year-end. This figure represents a decrease of 1.48 million shares from the previous quarter, when the company reportedly held 6.81 million shares, valued at $442.8 million.
This move represents a 21% decrease in the number of shares in the company’s Bitcoin ETF compared to the previous quarter.
At the same time as the sale, the university opened a new $86 million position in the iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA), also managed by BlackRock. During the last reported quarter, The institution acquired a total of 3.87 million shares of this fund related to the virtual currency Ether.As stated in the official document.
This partial capital rotation occurred in a context of high market volatility, with BTC reaching an all-time high of $126,000 in October 2025 before falling to $88,429 as of December 31, while ETH experienced a nearly 28% decline over the same period.
Despite selling some of its shares, BlackRock Bitcoin ETF remains the largest Harvard University stock It was released in late December and grossed $265.8 million. The university has been investing in a Bitcoin ETF managed by BlackRock since the second quarter of 2025, when it initiated a position with $117 million in shares.
The university’s actions reflect the maturation of its investment vehicle, which will be launched in 2024, according to a report by CriptoNoticias. These have enabled large institutions to manage their exposure to crypto assets.
Currently, the total net assets of Bitcoin ETFs are $87.04 billion, representing 6.33% of the asset’s market capitalization, while the total net assets of Ether funds are $11.72 billion, accounting for 4.75% of the Ether market.
