Disputes over funds on Ethereum: Harvard exits, which institutions are contrarian "buying the dip"?

Author: Nancy, PANews

In recent times, Ethereum’s price has continued to trail mainstream assets, and it has repeatedly failed to break upward. At the same time, as Ethereum spot demand has fallen back to its year-to-date lows, concerns in the market about further downside are intensifying, and institutional developments are gradually becoming the focus.

Spot demand hits new low for the year, and Ethereum enters a headwind cycle

Since last July, the ETH/BTC exchange rate has been steadily weakening. Especially during the recent recovery rally, Ethereum’s rebound strength has been clearly weaker than Bitcoin’s.

From the demand side, according to crypto analyst Crypto Rover, Ethereum spot demand has fallen to the lowest level this year, even below the temporary bottom on February 6. Historical experience suggests that weakness in spot demand often means prices could test further lows.

In terms of performance, CoinGecko data shows that Bitcoin’s Q1 and Q2 returns were -22.2% and 12.96%, respectively, while Ethereum’s were -29.26% and 0.85% for the same period.

Funding flows also validate this trend. For spot ETFs, since the beginning of this year, Bitcoin ETFs have recorded net inflows for multiple consecutive months starting in March; by contrast, Ethereum ETFs only saw net inflows in April, while during the rest of the time funds were mostly flowing out or remaining weak.

The sell-off actions by the Ethereum Foundation and Vitalik have also dealt a certain blow to market confidence. Although their sales are mainly used for operating expenses, protocol R&D, and ecosystem funding, they still exert pressure on sentiment in the secondary market. For example, according to data monitoring by Ai Auntie, since March 15, the Ethereum Foundation has cumulatively sold 30,000 ETH, worth more than $68.92 million. Of that, about 25,000 ETH was sold OTC to BitMine, aiming to reduce direct impact on the public market as much as possible.

As for the factors behind Ethereum’s weak price performance, BIT (formerly Matrixport) said that Ethereum’s recent price action is increasingly dominated by ETH fund flows. Over the past year, the 30-day average of daily net inflows into ETH ETFs has been highly synchronized with Ethereum’s price trend, indicating that Ethereum’s price sensitivity to institutional funds has risen significantly. One of Ethereum’s core narratives is a net staking yield of about 2.5%. But in an environment where inflation accelerates again and US 10-year Treasury yields have risen to above 4.6%, Ethereum’s staking yield advantage versus risk-free assets such as US Treasuries is weakening. After entering May, ETH ETFs again turned to net outflows, consistent with the logic above. If this trend persists, Ethereum is likely to remain in a period of consolidation.

BitMine chairman Tom Lee also stated that Ethereum has been facing selling pressure recently, with the biggest headwind coming from rising oil prices. The negative correlation between ETH and oil prices is at its highest level in history. Over the past six weeks, during which oil prices rose, Ethereum’s price fell; if oil prices pull back, Ethereum is likely to rebound. However, he emphasized that this is short-term tactical volatility, and that Ethereum’s bigger driving forces come from tokenization and AI agents—these structural factors are already in place, and Ethereum’s price is expected to strengthen in 2026.

Meanwhile, JPMorgan said that although the crypto market overall has rebounded after the Iran conflict, ETH and other altcoins have continued to underperform BTC. This trend has been underway since 2023, and if there is no clear improvement in network activity, decentralized finance, and real-world applications, it may be hard to change in the short term. At the same time, the upgrades Ethereum has carried out over the past several years have not noticeably improved on-chain activity. Instead, by lowering Layer 2 costs, they have weakened the mainnet’s transaction fee and burn mechanisms. The bank also noted that both spot ETF fund flows and CME futures positions show that institutional risk exposure to BTC has been repaired more strongly than to ETH.

Some add positions against the trend, while others urgently retreat

With Ethereum’s market performance continuing to come under pressure, each institution’s tactics differ.

Some funds choose to add positions against the trend or “bottom-fish,” and enhance returns and hedge volatility by introducing staking-type products; meanwhile, other institutions adopt a more cautious strategy, including actively reducing exposure or even completely liquidating.

It is worth noting that reducing positions does not completely equal being bearish. In the current macro and market environment, it is more often driven by needs for risk control, position balancing, and liquidity management. And even cases of complete liquidation may not necessarily stem from a rejection of Ethereum’s prospects. For instance, Harvard’s liquidation is more related to operating deficits and funding needs faced by its endowment fund and political pressure.

In addition, 13F filings are delayed quarterly snapshots, only reflecting positions at the end of the previous quarter, not an institution’s real-time trading behavior.

Institutions adding positions against the trend / bottom-fishing

Jane Street

In the first quarter of 2026, Jane Street increased its ETH allocation.

The 13F filing shows that as of Q1, Jane Street held about 11.09 million shares of ETHA, up roughly 87% quarter-over-quarter, with a position value of about $176 million. The number of ETHA call options decreased by about 13%, valued at about $144 million, while put options increased slightly by about 8%, valued at about $129 million.

In addition, the institution reduced its put option holdings on ProShares EETH by about 16%, with a position value of $49.99 million; at the same time, it significantly increased its holdings of Fidelity FETH, with the number of shares up a huge 1926% quarter-over-quarter, and the value rising to about $43.64 million.

Wells Fargo

The 13F filing shows that Wells Fargo increased its ETH exposure in the first quarter of 2026.

Specifically, it held ETHA worth $17.57 million, with the number of shares up about 65% quarter-over-quarter. Meanwhile, its Bitwise ETHW holdings also increased, up about 38% quarter-over-quarter, with a value of about $3.86 million.

BitMine

As one of the most aggressive long players, BitMine has continued to accumulate Ethereum.

Blockworks data shows that through 2026 to date, BitMine has cumulatively increased its holdings by more than 967,000 ETH. Although the pace of buying has slowed compared with the prior two quarters, the overall trend is still increasing month by month. Currently, BitMine holds more than 5.2 million ETH, worth more than $11 billion.

Facing massive unrealized losses, BitMine has also increased returns through staking. At the same time, Tom Lee recently disclosed that BitMine is evaluating whether to slow its buying pace and instead allocate capital to a $4 billion repurchase plan.

BIT (Matrixport)

Lookonchain’s latest data monitoring shows that a related whale associated with BIT continues to add to its ETH long positions as the market declines. It currently holds 120,000 ETH (worth $254 million), with unrealized losses exceeding $17.5 million.

ShapeShift

During the rapid market drop, according to monitoring by Onchain Lens, a mysterious whale associated with ShapeShift invested $5.88 million to bottom-fish 2,656 ETH. This whale now holds 129,667 ETH, worth more than $274 million.

It is worth noting that this whale was previously thought to be associated with ShapeShift founder Erik Voorhees, but he came out to deny the link.

Reducing positions or shifting to defense

Goldman Sachs

Based on changes in ETH holdings in Q1 2026, Goldman Sachs shifted to a defensive allocation strategy: it significantly cut spot exposure, increased put hedges, and introduced staking-type assets.

The 13F filing shows that in this quarter, Goldman Sachs sharply reduced its ETHA holdings: the number of shares fell by about 74% quarter-over-quarter, and the position value dropped to about $114 million. At the same time, its put option holdings on ETHA increased by about 69%, with a position value of $60.31 million. Meanwhile, call option holdings decreased by about 67%, and the position value fell to about $3.44 million.

In addition, in this quarter Goldman established a new position in BlackRock’s staking ETF ETHB, corresponding to a position value of about $66.89 million, and it closed out its Fidelity FETH position worth $390 million.

Susquehanna International Group

As of Q1 2026, the hedge fund Susquehanna International Group, in terms of Ethereum positioning, shifted from directly holding spot ETFs to managing risk through options, while also increasing allocations to staking-type products with yield attributes.

Specifically, SIG’s spot ETHA holdings decreased to about 3.13 million shares, down sharply by about 75% from the previous quarter, corresponding to a position value decrease of about 82% to $49.62 million. Meanwhile, its ETHA call option holdings increased by about 41% to 14.39 million contracts (value about $228 million), and its put option holdings also rose by about 23% to 11.12 million contracts (value about $176 million). In addition, SIG significantly increased its holdings of Grayscale’s staked ETF product ETHE: the number of shares surged about 795% quarter-over-quarter to about 5.31 million shares, with a value of about $106 million.

Citadel Advisors

In the first quarter of 2026, the hedge fund Citadel Advisors under Citadel overall reduced its risk exposure to Ethereum-related assets.

The 13F filing shows that in this quarter, the amount of ETHA it held decreased by about 40% quarter-over-quarter, and the position value fell to about $40.97 million. At the same time, the value of its ETHA call option holdings was approximately $109 million, down about 21% quarter-over-quarter, while put options were about $72.51 million, a decline of about 44%.

Millennium Management

The 13F filing shows that in Q1 2026, the hedge fund Millennium Management made a moderate reduction in its Ethereum spot ETF holdings, but overall still maintained its core exposure.

This quarter, the fund held about 16.47 million shares of BlackRock ETHA, worth about $260 million, down about 34% in share count from the previous quarter. At the same time, it held Fidelity FETH valued at about $77.15 million, down about 4% from the previous quarter.

Complete liquidation

Harvard University

The 13F filing shows that as of Q1 2026, Harvard University completely liquidated all ETHA holdings valued at about $86.82 million from the previous quarter. Behind Harvard’s position management, it is mainly influenced by factors such as the operational deficit faced by its endowment fund, disruption of federal funding, and political pressure. As for crypto ETFs, as highly liquid assets, they naturally became a prioritized target for reducing holdings.