Harvard cuts bitcoin exposure by 20%, adds new ether position

Finance Share Share this article Copy link X icon X (Twitter) LinkedIn Facebook Email Harvard cuts bitcoin exposure by 20%, adds new ether position The shift may be due to complex market dynamics, potentially reflecting the unwinding of a trade that capitalized on bitcoin treasury companies trading at premiums to their mNAV. By Francisco Rodrigues | Edited by Sheldon Reback Feb 16, 2026, 2:34 p.m. Make us preferred on Google Harvard's endowment manager lower its bitcoin exposure. (Xiangkun ZHU/Unsplash/Modified by CoinDesk) What to know : Harvard University made its first investment in ether, purchasing nearly 3.9 million shares of the iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA) while reducing its stake in the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT). The shift may be due to market dynamics, potentially reflecting the unwinding of a strategy that capitalized on bitcoin treasury companies trading at premiums to their mNAV. Institutions cut ownership of IBIT shares to 230 million in the fourth quarter from 417 million in the third Harvard University’s $56.9 billion endowment made its first foray into ether ETH $ 1,969.95 last quarter, even as it scaled back its exposure to bitcoin BTC $ 68,481.18 . According to an SEC filing , the Harvard Management Company (HMC) bought almost 3.9 million shares of BlackRock's iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA), valued at around $86.8 million. STORY CONTINUES BELOW Don't miss another story. Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today . See all newsletters Sign me up By signing up, you will receive emails about CoinDesk products and you agree to our terms & conditions and privacy policy . The company also reduced its stake in the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) by 21%, selling roughly 1.5 million shares. The bitcoin exchange-traded fund remains Harvard’s largest publicly disclosed holding at $265.8 million. The shift comes after the price of bitcoin dropped from an all-time high of around $125,000 in October to close the quarter just below $90,000. The move, however, may have less to do with sentiment and more to do with market dynamics, according to Andy Constan, founder and chief investment officer at Damped Spring Advisors. The sale could reflect the unwinding of a trade that meant to capitalize on bitcoin treasury companies trading at premiums to the value of their BTC holdings, as measured by the multiple of net asset value, or mNAV, which compares enterprise value to bitcoin value. When bitcoin’s price was booming, digital asset treasury (DAT) firms like Strategy (MSTR) traded at high premiums to the value of the bitcoin in their treasuries. MSTR, for example, at one point traded near 2.9 mNAV, meaning investors buying the shares were paying around $2.9 to own $1 of BTC. That premium reflects not only the underlying cash-generating business, but also the company’s potential to keep accumulating bitcoin. Still, various investors bet on that mNAV gap narrowing. They held bitcoin indirectly through IBIT and shorted the shares of Strategy and similar digital asset treasury (DAT) companies. Then the unwind took place , according to Constan. As the price of bitcoin plunged, so did that of DAT shares. Strategy, for example, now trades at 1.2 mNAV. These traders may also be rebalancing their portfolios, as bitcoin’s price nearly doubled last year despite the drawdown, suggesting it could be above the institution’s desired portfolio allocation, he wrote on X. Data from 13F filings with the SEC gathered by Todd Schneider at 13.info backs these points. It shows that institutions reported owning 230 million IBIT shares in the fourth quarter, down from 417 million in the third. Harvard also boosted investments in chipmakers Broadcom and TSMC, as well as in Google’s parent company Alphabet and railroad operator Union Pacific, while trimming stakes in Amazon, Microsoft and Nvidia. Bitcoin ETF Ethereum ETF Harvard University Endowment More For You Nexo re-enters the U.S. market three years after its ‘dead end’ exit By Olivier Acuna | Edited by Jamie Crawley 5 minutes ago The digital assets wealth platform’s rollout includes regulated yield accounts, credit lines and exchange access backed by Bakkt. What to know : Nexo has reentered the U.S. market, rolling out a suite of digital asset services and trading infrastructure powered by U.S.-based Bakkt. The company, which left the U.S. in 2022 after regulatory clashes over its Earn Interest Product, returns with $11 billion in assets under management and a focus on operating within a compliant framework. 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