Institutional disclosures for the second quarter of 2026 underscored a measured but persistent embrace of spot Bitcoin ETFs. Harvard Management Company’s Form 13F filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission showed the university endowment kept its position in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust unchanged at 3,044,612 shares, valued at approximately $101.4 million as of June 30, 2026.
The stable share count followed two consecutive quarters of reductions. Harvard cut its IBIT stake by about 21% in the fourth quarter of 2025, from 6,813,612 shares to 5,353,612 shares, then reduced it by roughly 43% in the first quarter of 2026. The dollar value fell by about $15.6 million during the second quarter, reflecting ETF price movement rather than additional selling. IBIT ranked as the 11th-largest holding in Harvard’s disclosed US equity portfolio and represented about 2.4% of the reported $4.26 billion equity portfolio. The endowment first disclosed an IBIT position in the second quarter of 2025 and later expanded it to more than 6.8 million shares before trimming. Harvard also fully exited a BlackRock spot Ethereum ETF position valued at about $86.8 million in the first quarter of 2026 and did not re-enter any Ethereum-related funds in the second quarter.
Gold-related holdings at Harvard totaled about $171.2 million, exceeding its Bitcoin ETF allocation, while SpaceX remained the largest disclosed public equity holding at $2.21 billion.
Separately, Edelman Financial Engines reported roughly $34 million across spot Bitcoin ETFs, split between BlackRock’s IBIT and Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust. The Bitcoin allocation exceeded the firm’s reported $25 million Amazon stake, despite representing only about 0.012% of Edelman’s overall $326 billion in assets under management. Founder Ric Edelman has been a public supporter of Bitcoin ETFs since 2019 and established the Digital Assets Council of Financial Professionals to educate advisors on digital assets.
The latest round of 13F filings also showed broader institutional activity: JPMorgan expanded its IBIT holdings, UBS increased its exposure substantially, Santander submitted its first Bitcoin ETF disclosure, and Tudor Investment Corporation reported 688,529 shares of IBIT valued at about $22.9 million, up from the prior quarter. While the allocations remain small relative to total managed assets, the disclosures highlight how regulated ETFs are lowering barriers for traditional financial advisors to add Bitcoin exposure within standard portfolio frameworks.
