Last November, Harvard University’s latest 13F filing with the SEC caused a major stir in the institutional investment world. According to the filing, the university increased its holdings of BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF, IBIT, as of September 30.
However, since the sharp declines in October, the university has reduced its Bitcoin holdings in the fourth quarter.
According to The Block, Harvard Management Company reduced its holdings in iShares Bitcoin Trust and opened a new position of $86.8 million in iShares Ethereum Trust in the fourth quarter.
Despite this decrease in Bitcoin holdings, Bitcoin remains Harvard’s largest publicly disclosed asset as of the end of the fourth quarter.
Harvard reduced its Bitcoin holdings while purchasing an Ethereum ETF for the first time.
According to a filing with the SEC, as of December 31, the university held 5.35 million shares in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust, valued at $265.8 million. This represents a decrease of 1.48 million shares compared to the previous quarter, when Harvard reported holding 6.81 million shares worth $442.8 million.
In the last quarter, Harvard also opened a new position worth $86.8 million in the BlackRock iShares Ethereum Trust. A total of 3.87 million shares were purchased in the last quarter.
Harvard continues to attract attention with its investments, including announcing investments in Ethereum alongside Bitcoin, while UCLA finance professor Avanidhar Subrahmanyam stated that the Ethereum investment has increased concerns about the foundation’s investments.
Subrahmanyam added that Harvard has considerable skepticism about investing in BTC and ETH due to the uncertain value narrative of cryptocurrencies and their status as an unproven asset class.
*This is not investment advice.