Harvard trims Bitcoin ETF, opens a big Ethereum position — a sign institutions are rotating Harvard’s endowment quietly shifted its crypto bets in Q4, according to a new 13F filing with the SEC. The university trimmed 1.46 million shares of BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), cutting that holding to about $265 million. At the same time Harvard established a new position of 3,873,044 shares in BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust, worth roughly $86.8 million. Together, the two spot-ETF stakes pushed the endowment’s crypto exposure to just over $352 million at quarter-end. A short timeline: Harvard first disclosed a $116 million IBIT position in August 2025, then expanded it to roughly $350 million by November. The Q4 filing shows a deliberate trimming of BTC exposure and a rotation of some capital into ETH. What industry insiders say - Sean Bill, co-founder and CIO of Bitcoin Standard Treasury Company, told Decrypt the move looks like a “relative value trade with the belief that ETH is undervalued relative to BTC.” - Jennifer Ouarrag, Head of Legal at staking provider Twinstake, framed it as a “recalibration toward assets with multiple return drivers.” She added that while Bitcoin remains “the primary institutional store-of-value proxy,” Ethereum “offers exposure to a broader smart-contract ecosystem.” Why this matters Harvard’s shift is notable because it signals institutional investors are increasingly treating Ethereum as more than an altcoin — it’s becoming a mainstream portfolio sleeve alongside Bitcoin. Funds and corporates tracking the BTC/ETH ratio may now tilt into whichever asset they deem to be underperformed, a behavior that suggests long-term conviction in both networks and the possibility that each could pursue new all-time highs. Importantly, BTC and ETH serve different roles: Bitcoin is widely seen as a store of value, while Ethereum is a “productive” asset—powering smart contracts, decentralized applications, staking yields, and broader infrastructure use cases. Harvard’s move looks like a bet on that differentiated upside. What to watch Market participants will be watching institutional flows into BlackRock’s spot ETFs and the BTC/ETH performance gap for signs that the rotation continues. More detailed commentary from Harvard on its rationale would add clarity, but for now the filing is another data point in a broader trend: major investors are increasingly allocating to both Bitcoin and Ethereum, but with nuanced portfolio strategies. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news
