Harvard Pauses Bitcoin ETF Selling After Two Straight Quarters of Cuts

Harvard University’s endowment left its position in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust unchanged during the second quarter, halting two consecutive quarters of selling, according to its latest 13F filing. Harvard Management Company reported holding 3,044,612 shares of IBIT worth 101.4 million dollars as of June 30, the same share count disclosed three months earlier. The 15.6 million dollar drop in position value reflected IBIT’s price decline over the quarter rather than any change in holdings.

Harvard had previously held 6,813,612 IBIT shares at the end of September 2025, cutting the position to 5,353,612 shares by the fourth quarter and further down to 3,044,612 shares in the first quarter of 2026. The endowment also fully exited an 86.8 million dollar position in BlackRock’s spot Ethereum ETF that it had only opened the prior quarter, and has not reestablished any Ethereum exposure since.

Gold Now Outweighs Bitcoin in Harvard’s Portfolio

Harvard currently holds more value in gold-related funds than in bitcoin products, with 149.5 million dollars in the iShares Gold Trust and 21.7 million dollars in the SPDR Gold Trust, totaling 171.2 million dollars compared to 101.4 million dollars in IBIT. The bitcoin ETF ranked 11th among Harvard’s 19 disclosed positions, representing 2.4 percent of its 4.26 billion dollar disclosed portfolio. It’s worth noting that 13F filings only cover directly held U.S.-listed securities and exclude private funds, which make up the bulk of Harvard’s roughly 57 billion dollar endowment.

Harvard’s largest disclosed holding remained SpaceX, at 12,935,100 shares worth 2.21 billion dollars, accounting for 52 percent of its total disclosed holdings. Separately, Dartmouth College reported no changes across its three crypto ETF positions, though their combined value slipped from 14.6 million dollars to 12.4 million dollars over the quarter.

Abu Dhabi Funds Also Hold Positions Steady

Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund Mubadala reported 14,721,917 IBIT shares worth 490.1 million dollars as of June 30, unchanged from the prior quarter, making it the fund’s second-largest disclosed position. The Abu Dhabi Investment Council similarly reported an unchanged 8,218,712 IBIT shares worth 273.6 million dollars, its largest reported holding. Together, the two funds held about 764 million dollars in IBIT at quarter’s end, roughly 118 million dollars less than in March due to price movement rather than selling.

Mixed Moves From Major Wall Street Firms

Morgan Stanley trimmed its IBIT position by 4.5 percent to about 16.5 million shares worth 548.6 million dollars, down from 17.3 million shares three months earlier. The firm also disclosed a new 2.57 million share position in the Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust, which began trading in April.

JPMorgan moved in the opposite direction, increasing its IBIT stake to roughly 10.4 million shares from 8.3 million, while also more than quadrupling its position in BlackRock’s ether ETF. Tudor Investment Corporation, founded by Paul Tudor Jones, reported 688,529 IBIT shares worth 22.9 million dollars, an increase of 109,446 shares for the quarter. The same filing disclosed put options with an underlying value of 23.8 million dollars alongside call options worth 4.93 million dollars.

Bitcoin was trading around 62,900 dollars at the time of reporting, down nearly 30 percent year-to-date and roughly half of its October 2025 high above 126,000 dollars. IBIT held about 47.35 billion dollars in net assets as of August 13, according to BlackRock.