Harvard Endowment Maintains Bitcoin ETF Position at $101M While Boosting Gold Holdings

Key Highlights

• Harvard’s endowment maintained its BlackRock IBIT bitcoin ETF holdings at 3,044,612 shares valued at $101.4 million during Q2 2026, halting a two-quarter selloff trend
• Two Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth entities, Mubadala and ADIC, maintained a combined $764 million IBIT exposure with zero portfolio adjustments
• JPMorgan expanded its IBIT holdings to 10.4 million shares, while Morgan Stanley reduced its position by 4.5%
• Paul Tudor Jones’s Tudor Investment Corporation increased its IBIT stake, now controlling 688,529 shares valued at $22.9 million
• The university’s gold-related investments ($171.2 million) now exceed its bitcoin fund allocation, with SpaceX representing its largest publicly disclosed asset at $2.2 billion

The endowment fund of Harvard University maintained its position in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust throughout the second quarter of 2026. According to regulatory filings, the institution held 3,044,612 shares valued at $101.4 million on June 30, representing no change in share quantity from the previous quarter.

This marks a reversal from recent portfolio management decisions. The prestigious university had reduced its IBIT allocation by 21% during Q4 2025, followed by an additional 43% reduction in Q1 2026. While the position’s dollar value declined quarter-over-quarter, this decrease stemmed from bitcoin’s price depreciation rather than share liquidation.

The endowment has shown no interest in expanding its Ethereum exposure. Having completely divested from its BlackRock spot Ethereum ETF position earlier in the year, Harvard has not re-entered the ether market through any investment vehicle.

Bitcoin is presently trading near $63,000, representing a nearly 30% decline year-to-date. This valuation sits approximately 50% below its October 2025 all-time high above $126,000.

Gold Allocation Surpasses Bitcoin in Harvard Portfolio

The endowment’s precious metals exposure now exceeds its cryptocurrency allocation, with $171.2 million invested in gold-backed products versus $101.4 million in bitcoin funds. This includes $149.5 million in the iShares Gold Trust and an additional $21.7 million in the SPDR Gold Trust.

Within Harvard’s publicly disclosed holdings, IBIT secured the 11th position and represented 2.4% of its $4.26 billion in reported assets. The institution’s complete endowment totals approximately $57 billion, though the majority resides in private investment vehicles exempt from 13F disclosure requirements.

The endowment’s most substantial publicly reported investment is SpaceX, valued at $2.21 billion and comprising 52% of all disclosed holdings. Following the company’s June public offering at $135 per share, which established an approximate $1.8 trillion market valuation, Harvard’s long-held pre-IPO stake converted into tradable equity.

Dartmouth College similarly reported stable crypto ETF allocations. The aggregate value of its holdings across IBIT, a Grayscale Ethereum staking product, and a Bitwise Solana fund decreased from $14.6 million to $12.4 million, attributable entirely to market price fluctuations without share count modifications.

Institutional Investors Adjust Bitcoin ETF Allocations

Mubadala, Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund, maintained 14.7 million IBIT shares worth $490.1 million, while the Abu Dhabi Investment Council held 8.2 million shares valued at $273.6 million. Both entities kept their share counts unchanged during the reporting period.

JPMorgan expanded its IBIT exposure from 8.3 million to 10.4 million shares and increased its BlackRock ether ETF position by more than 400%. Conversely, Morgan Stanley reduced its IBIT holdings by 4.5% to approximately 16.5 million shares. The financial institution also reported 2.57 million shares in its proprietary Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust.

Tudor Investment Corporation acquired an additional 109,446 shares during the quarter, elevating its total to 688,529 IBIT shares worth $22.9 million. The hedge fund simultaneously maintained IBIT put options representing an underlying value of $23.8 million.

As of August 13, BlackRock’s IBIT commanded approximately $47.35 billion in net assets. According to 13F filing data, the exchange-traded fund now counts 1,500 institutional investors among its shareholders.