The first quarter of 2026 saw mixed moves from major institutional investors in the crypto space, as disclosed in fresh 13F filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. While Harvard University’s endowment sharply reduced its exposure to Bitcoin and completely exited its Ether ETF position, Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment Company significantly boosted its stake in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT).
Harvard Management Company disclosed it held 3,044,612 shares of IBIT as of March 31, 2026, worth approximately $117 million—a 43% cut from its 5.35 million-share position at the end of 2025. The fund had already trimmed its IBIT holding by 21% in Q4 2025. Additionally, Harvard completely liquidated its position in BlackRock’s Ether ETF, eliminating about $86.8 million in exposure. The exact timing of these trades is not revealed, as 13F filings only show positions on the last day of the quarter.
In contrast, Mubadala Investment Company increased its IBIT stake from roughly 12.7 million shares to over 14.72 million shares, an investment valued at around $566 million. Other traditional financial institutions also added to their crypto allocations: the Royal Bank of Canada added to its IBIT exposure while using options to hedge; the Bank of Nova Scotia purchased 214,370 IBIT shares; and Barclays built a layered position with both put and call options on the IBIT ETF. Among university endowments, Dartmouth shifted its Ether exposure to Grayscale’s Ethereum Staking ETF and opened a new position in the Bitwise Solana Staking ETF, while Brown University held its IBIT shares steady.
The broader crypto market struggled in Q1, with Bitcoin briefly falling to $62,000 in early February. The total market capitalization sits around $2.57 trillion, down over 12% year-to-date but recovering slightly over the past two months. The divergence in institutional behavior suggests that large-scale investors may be treating the downturn as a buying opportunity rather than questioning the long-term viability of digital assets.
