The Harvard investment fund prepared to buy Ethereum in autumn of last year. Three months later, he ended up selling everything. At the same time, it has continued to reduce its position in Bitcoinwhich has also been declining quarter by quarter since will reach its all-time high in mid-2025. The institution, which for a few years had been increasingly betting on cryptocurrencieshas experienced first-hand how the landscape has changed in a very short time.
The play. The Harvard investment fund, known as Harvard Management Company, revealed in its latest filings with the SEC that it had completely liquidated its position in BlackRock’s Ethereum ETF during the first quarter of 2026. The position, valued at around $86.8 million, lasted just one quarter. In fact, at the time of purchase, the fund had become the largest new buyer of BlackRock Ether, as commented Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart told Fortune.
At the same time, Harvard also cut its position in the Bitcoin ETF of BlackRock (IBIT) by 43%, leaving it at about 117 million dollars. It is the third consecutive quarter in which its crypto positions decrease.
Why it matters. Harvard is not just any university when we talk about investment. Its endowment (the university’s permanent investment fund) is the largest in the world and many are attentive to its movements. That it has bet (and undone so quickly) on Ethereum gives clues about how institutions are viewing this cryptocurrency.
The thing about Ethereum is that it has something that Bitcoin doesn’t have. And its network can host financial applications. That should make it more attractive in theory. However, what the numbers say is something else: the price of Ethereum has accumulated a drop of 29% so far this year, compared to 12% for Bitcoin, and in the last five years Bitcoin has clearly surpassed Ethereum.
In detail. Harvard’s crypto story begins in the second quarter of 2025, when bought 1.9 million shares of BlackRock’s IBIT ETF for about 116.7 million dollars, making Bitcoin its largest position in listed equities, even above Nvidia or Alphabet.
The peak came in Q3 of 2025, with 442 million in Bitcoin ETF. From there, the road was downhill, with a 21% cut in Q4, simultaneous entry into Ethereum for 87 million, and in Q1 2026 complete exit from Ether and a new 43% cut in Bitcoin.
Between the lines. The exit of Ethereum in a single quarter suggests that it was a strategy that did not end up convincing. Harvard’s portfolio of listed equities It is only 16 positionsand this is a tiny fraction of its total $57 billion endowment.
Its largest position currently is TSMC, with about 232 million, followed by gold, with about 200 million. Eric Balchunas, ETF analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, counted Fortune that flows into Bitcoin ETFs remain relatively resilient despite the fall it is having in 2026. Regarding Harvard’s position specifically, he noted that, having many other assets that have performed well, “absorbing losses in Bitcoin may be more bearable, with the hope of a recovery.” He also recalled that endowments are “the most difficult institution to convince” to enter ETFs, which makes both entry and exit even more striking.
ETFs at other universities. Among the rest of the universities, the panorama is different. Dartmouth maintained its position in IBIT unchanged during Q1 and expanded its crypto exposure with a new entry into Bitwise’s Solana ETF, being one of the first US universities to do so. Brown University He didn’t move his position either. at IBIT. Harvard, for now, is moving in the opposite direction.
And now what. Harvard’s crypto strategy could also be conditioned by an internal factor. And NP Narvekar, the director of the endowment since 2016 and the architect of its shift towards alternative assets, has informed the board of his intention to retire, possibly at the end of 2027, according to account the Wall Street Journal. There is still no open successor search process, but it is a factor that may explain why Harvard is getting rid of somewhat riskier positions.
Cover image | DrawKit Illustrations and Somesh Kesarla Suresh
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