harvard

According to on-chain analyst Ai Yi's monitoring, Harvard Management Company first established a position in cryptocurrency during the market rise in the second quarter of 2025; in the third quarter, when the BTC price approached historical highs, it significantly increased its holdings, with the number of shares increasing by 257%. IBIT once accounted for 20% of its holdings, making it its largest public position; during the market pullback in the fourth quarter, it reduced its BTC holdings while establishing a position in ETH, clearing all ETH after holding it for only one quarter and exiting at a loss.Its BTC acquisition cost ranged from $107,000 to $114,000, and the ETH acquisition cost was $4,000, resulting in a loss of over $150 million in the cryptocurrency sector within a year.

According to The Block, sovereign wealth funds, universities, and banks have recently disclosed their 13F holdings reports for the first quarter of 2026. On the sovereign wealth fund side, the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala increased its holdings in BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (ticker IBIT), raising its share count from 12,702,323 to 14,721,917, adding over $90 million in holdings, with a total holding value of nearly $660 million. Mubadala's Abu Dhabi Investment Council (ADIC) maintained its IBIT holdings unchanged, holding 8,218,712 shares valued at $315.8 million.Several university endowments reported that their cryptocurrency ETF holdings remained largely stable. Harvard University's endowment reported holding 3,044,612 shares of IBIT, valued at approximately $117 million. This is a 43% decrease from the 5.35 million shares held at the end of 2025, after Harvard had already reduced its holdings by 21% in the fourth quarter. IBIT is no longer its largest holding (overtaken by TSMC, Alphabet, Microsoft, and SPDR Gold Trust). Harvard also completely liquidated its previously established position in BlackRock's Ethereum spot ETF valued at $86.8 million from the previous quarter.Dartmouth College reported holding 201,531 shares of IBIT, valued slightly above $9 million, unchanged from the previous quarter. The college transferred its Ethereum ETF holdings from Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust to Grayscale's Ethereum Staking ETF, keeping its 178,148 shares unchanged. Dartmouth also disclosed a new holding in Bitwise Solana Staking ETF, holding 304,803 shares, currently valued at nearly $3.67 million. This is the first time an institutional endowment fund has expressed interest in expanding its investment scope beyond Bitcoin or Ethereum into other cryptocurrencies.Meanwhile, Brown University maintained its holdings of 212,500 shares of IBIT, while Emory University simplified its Bitcoin fund holdings from two to one. The school liquidated its 4,450 shares of IBIT while increasing its holdings in Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust from slightly over 1 million shares to 1,354,148 shares.Traditional financial institutions are also actively rebalancing positions and hedging. Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) increased its direct holdings in IBIT and enhanced the use of put and call options for hedging. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) increased its holdings by 214,370 shares of IBIT after liquidating its previously held Trump-related U.S. Bitcoin stocks. Barclays also disclosed its IBIT positions, including approximately 4.46 million shares of spot stock and a significant number of put and call option positions related to the ETF. Hong Kong-based Laurore has reduced its IBIT holdings from 8,786,279 shares to 6,846,279 shares.

According to Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart, 13F filing institutions have collectively reduced their holdings in Ethereum spot ETFs, with hedge funds concentrating their selling due to the collapse of basis trade returns; traditional/long-term funds are increasing their positions against the trend, with Harvard's endowment fund being the largest new buyer this season.

According to CoinDesk, in response to declining return expectations for traditional assets, several university endowments are adjusting their investment strategies and starting to allocate to cryptocurrency ETFs. Harvard University and Brown University have disclosed positions in Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs in their latest 13F filings.Kim Lew, CEO of Columbia Investment Management Company, stated that the expected returns on traditional asset classes and Alpha returns will be compressed, forcing institutions to move further along the risk curve and explore new strategies. Carlos Rangel from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation pointed out that if an 8% return cannot be achieved, the traditional foundation model will be difficult to sustain.

According to The Block, based on the latest SEC filing, Harvard Management Company reduced its holdings in the BlackRock iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) by 21% in the fourth quarter of 2025, while also making its first purchase of the iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA) worth $86.8 million.Despite the reduction, the Bitcoin ETF remains Harvard's largest publicly traded position with a valuation of $265.8 million.

According to Bitcoin Magazine, Harvard University's Bitcoin ETF holdings exceed the market value of its parent company Alphabet's shares.

According to Bitcoin Magazine, the Bitcoin ETF assets held by Harvard University have surpassed the value of its Google stock assets.

Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan posted on X platform that Harvard University increased its Bitcoin investment from $117 million to $443 million in the third quarter. At the same time, it also raised its allocation to gold ETFs from $102 million to $235 million. Harvard decided to make a depreciation trade, with its Bitcoin allocation being twice that of gold.

Bitcoin Magazine posted on the X platform that Harvard University holds more Bitcoin ETFs than it holds Google stocks.

According to market news, the latest disclosure documents submitted by Harvard University to the U.S. SEC show that after a significant drop in the cryptocurrency market led to a massive decline in the value of its Bitcoin ETF holdings, the current value of the university's Bitcoin ETF holdings has lost approximately $40 million.Last quarter, the university increased its holdings in the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF, with the holdings size nearing $500 million at one point. Even though Bitcoin experienced a brief rebound on Tuesday, its decline this quarter still exceeds 20%. If Harvard University had sold in early October, it might have avoided losses or made a small profit before prices fell further. However, its average purchase price has not been disclosed.If the university still holds some or all of the 4.9 million shares purchased last quarter, the most optimistic scenario shows a loss of 14%. This calculation assumes that Harvard University bought in early July, when Bitcoin's trading price was at its lowest point during the quarter. Based on this timing, the shares purchased for approximately $294 million are now worth about $255 million.In the second quarter of this year, before the Bitcoin market heats up in 2025, Harvard University also purchased 1.9 million shares, which may currently have a small loss or slight profit, depending on the timing of the purchase. On paper, the loss from this holding has a minimal impact on Harvard University's balance sheet. The university manages a $57 billion endowment fund, making it the largest endowment fund in the U.S. As of September 30, its Bitcoin holdings account for less than 1% of its total assets.

The latest disclosed 13F filing shows that as of September 30, Harvard University held 6,813,612 shares of IBIT, valued at $442.9 million; the number of shares in the GLD gold ETF was 661,391, valued at $235 million; compared to the holdings of 1,906,000 shares of IBIT and 333,000 shares of GLD at the end of June, the increases were 257.48% and 98.62%, respectively. In addition, Harvard University held 583,931 shares of NVIDIA, valued at $109 million.

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, Harvard University economics professor and former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund Kenneth Rogoff reflects on his prediction error from 2018. At that time, he predicted that Bitcoin was more likely to be worth $100 than $100,000 within ten years, but now the actual price of Bitcoin has surpassed $113,000, more than a tenfold increase since 2018.Rogoff stated that he was "too optimistic about the U.S. establishing reasonable cryptocurrency regulations," and he underestimated Bitcoin's role in the global $20 trillion underground economy, which has supported Bitcoin's price. He also criticized the "obvious conflict of interest" between regulators and cryptocurrencies, stating that regulators hold hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars in cryptocurrencies without facing any consequences.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, based on the holdings report disclosed on August 8, Harvard University's portfolio held a value of $117 million in the BlackRock Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) at the end of the second quarter, ranking fifth in holdings, surpassing its $114 million in shares of Google's parent company Alphabet.Data shows that the BlackRock Bitcoin ETF currently has an asset management scale of $84 billion. The Michigan Retirement System disclosed holdings of $11 million in the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF during the same period.

ChainCatcher news, according to Decrypt, a recent study led by Harvard University found that harmful air pollutants generated by Bitcoin mining can cross state lines, affecting areas far from the mining sites.The research showed that between August 2022 and July 2023, approximately 1.9 million Americans were exposed to these fine particulate matters, with affected areas including New York City, the Houston/Austin metropolitan area, Northeast Texas, and the Illinois/Kentucky border region.Researchers stated that this "interstate pollution" creates a regulatory blind spot and recommended that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency implement "good neighbor" rules to strengthen control over emissions from upwind state power plants. Meanwhile, Trump expressed support for the cryptocurrency industry during his campaign, hoping that "all Bitcoin is produced in the U.S.," raising concerns among environmentalists about the environmental consequences.