Yeliz Akmaca 
An unusual move on the crypto front. One of academia’s most conservative treasuries quietly adjusted its portfolio. As the fourth quarter closed, Harvard Management Company reduced its Bitcoin ETF exposure while stepping into Ethereum for the first time.
At first glance, it looks like a routine adjustment. In reality, the move is simple: trim the inflated Bitcoin portion and redirect part of that capital into Ether. Classic portfolio rebalancing.
Bitcoin Shrinks, ETH Walks In
The 13F filing with the SEC is clear. Harvard’s investment arm cut its position in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust by roughly 21%. Share count fell from 6.81 million to 5.35 million. By quarter-end, that Bitcoin ETF stake was valued at $265.8 million.
In the same filing, a new line appeared: iShares Ethereum Trust.
Harvard acquired 3.87 million shares, creating a fresh Ether exposure worth about $86.8 million. This marked the endowment’s first publicly disclosed move into Ethereum.
Across both assets, the disclosed crypto exposure now totals $352.6 million. Bitcoin stepped back slightly, but it did not leave the stage. In fact, it remains Harvard’s largest publicly reported holding.
A small but telling detail: as of Dec. 31, the Bitcoin ETF position exceeded Harvard’s stakes in Alphabet, Microsoft, and Amazon individually. Most people missed that.
The Timing Matters: A Volatile Quarter, an Uneasy Market
These changes landed during a turbulent stretch for crypto.
Bitcoin peaked near $126,000 in October 2025 before sliding to $88,429 by year-end. Ether dropped roughly 28% over the same period. Prices today sit much lower, but in hindsight Harvard’s move reads like risk distribution.
Reduce some Bitcoin. Add Ethereum in a controlled way. Straightforward portfolio math. Still, for an Ivy League endowment, it’s far from ordinary.
Academic Concerns Begin to Surface
The shift sparked debate on campus. Student newspaper The Harvard Crimson brought the story into focus. Faculty reactions followed.
Andrew F. Siegel, emeritus finance professor at the University of Washington, called the Bitcoin investment “risky,” noting it was down about 22.8% year-to-date. He pointed again to crypto’s long-running “lack of intrinsic value” problem.
A similar tone came from **University of California, Los Angeles. UCLA professor Avanidhar Subrahmanyam said adding Ether only deepened his concerns. In his view, crypto remains an unproven asset class with unclear valuation frameworks. He added that his earlier skepticism toward Harvard’s Bitcoin exposure has been partially validated by subsequent performance.
So What Does This Actually Mean?
Harvard isn’t exiting Bitcoin. On the contrary, BTC remains its core crypto position. But bringing Ether into the mix suggests a shift toward a broader, multi-asset digital strategy.
Is this a small experiment, or the opening chapter of a longer playbook? For now, it’s hard to say.
One thing is certain: this isn’t just an ETF tweak. One of traditional finance’s most cautious institutions no longer wants all its digital exposure in a single basket.
And that raises the real question.
If Harvard is opening the door to Ether… which major fund walks through next?
Short recap
Harvard’s investment manager cut its Bitcoin ETF position by 21% while adding roughly $87 million in an Ethereum ETF. Bitcoin remains its largest disclosed holding. Academic criticism is growing. Quietly, the institutional crypto game keeps expanding.
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