Harvard Management Company, which oversees Harvard University’s endowment fund, has completely exited its position in BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA) during the first quarter of 2026, according to its latest 13F filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The move ends a short-lived exposure that began in the fourth quarter of 2025, when the fund opened a stake of 3.87 million shares valued at approximately $86.8 million.
The sale came during a turbulent period for Ethereum. The asset’s price tumbled to the $1,800 area in February 2026 and has remained under pressure, declining about 10% over the past month. Spot Ethereum ETFs across the market recorded net outflows for nine consecutive days, with total outflows reaching $32.57 million, extending a streak that saw no daily inflows above $50 million for weeks.
Harvard did not publicly explain the divestment, but the filing shows it was not an isolated portfolio adjustment. The endowment also reduced exposure to gold and sold shares in Nvidia, TSMC, and Broadcom. Importantly, it cut its Bitcoin ETF position by 2.3 million shares of the iShares Bitcoin Trust but still retained over $117 million worth of the Bitcoin product, signaling a deliberate shift rather than a blanket exit from crypto.
Institutional observers note that Harvard’s move coincides with both weak price performance and internal turmoil at the Ethereum Foundation, where at least eight senior researchers and coordinators have departed in 2026. This loss of institutional knowledge may have shortened the patience of long-term funds like Harvard’s. Meanwhile, other major investors such as Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala raised its Bitcoin ETF holdings to $566 million, and Dartmouth College’s endowment opened Solana ETF positions, highlighting a divergence in institutional appetite across blockchain networks.
