 
 
Harvard College’s endowment lowered its holdings in Bitcoin exchange-traded funds by over 20% within the fourth quarter whereas taking its first place in an Ether ETF, in keeping with a quarterly submitting. The disclosure exhibits the Ivy League college now has a mixed $352.6 million publicity to the 2 largest cryptocurrencies.
Based on the college’s newest 13F submitting with the U.S. Securities and Change Fee, the funding fund held 5.35 million shares of BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Belief (IBIT) as of the fourth quarter of 2025.
The transfer displays a discount of 1.48 million shares from the earlier quarter, when Harvard held 6.81 million shares valued at $442.8 million.
IBIT is the world’s largest spot BTC ETF, with roughly $52 billion in internet belongings in keeping with SoSoValue knowledge.
Throughout the identical quarter, Harvard established a brand new $86.8 million stake in BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Belief, buying 3.87 million shares, in keeping with the submitting. The Ether funding represents the endowment’s first publicly disclosed place in a fund tied to the world’s most respected cryptocurrency.
 
The changes occurred amid a turbulent quarter for cryptocurrency markets. Bitcoin reached a excessive of $126,080 in October 2025 earlier than sliding to round $88,400 by Dec. 31, whereas Ether fell roughly 27% throughout the identical timeframe. As of publication time, Bitcoin and Ether are buying and selling close to $68,792 and $1,972, respectively, in keeping with crypto knowledge supplier CoinGecko.
Even after trimming its holdings, Bitcoin continues to be Harvard’s largest publicly disclosed fairness place as of Dec. 31. The $265.8 million stake surpassed the endowment’s investments in Alphabet, Microsoft, and Amazon, the submitting exhibits.
Not Everybody Is Impressed With Harvard’s Crypto Technique
Harvard’s method to cryptocurrency has attracted criticism from lecturers, in keeping with a Monday report from the Harvard Crimson.
Andrew F. Siegel, emeritus finance professor on the College of Washington, known as the Bitcoin holding “dangerous,” pointing to a 23% year-to-date loss. He additional famous that a part of the chance arises from Bitcoin missing intrinsic worth.
Avanidhar Subrahmanyam, a finance professor at UCLA, stated the choice so as to add Ether reinforces his issues in regards to the endowment’s digital asset allocation. He described cryptocurrencies as a still-developing asset class with unsure valuation frameworks, including that latest market efficiency has strengthened his earlier doubts about Harvard’s Bitcoin publicity.
