Harvard clears out its Ethereum ETF holdings, and Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund increases its holdings in IBIT

ME News message, May 17 (UTC+8). Recently, sovereign wealth funds, universities, and banks have successively disclosed their 2026 Q1 13F holdings reports.

For sovereign wealth funds, Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund Mubadala increased its iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (stock code IBIT) holdings. The share count rose from 12,702,323 shares to 14,721,917 shares, adding more than $90 million in new holdings, bringing the total holdings value to nearly $660 million. Mubadala’s Abu Dhabi Investment Council (ADIC) kept its IBIT position unchanged. It held 8,218,712 shares of IBIT, worth $315.8 million.

Several university endowment funds reported that their holdings in cryptocurrency ETFs remained basically stable. Harvard University’s endowment fund reported holding 3,044,612 shares of IBIT, worth approximately $117 million. Compared with the 5.35 million shares held at the end of 2025, this represents a 43% decrease. Previously, Harvard University had already reduced its holdings by 21% in the fourth quarter. IBIT is no longer its largest holding (having been surpassed by TSMC, Alphabet, Microsoft, and SPDR Gold Trust). Harvard University also fully liquidated its previous quarter’s BlackRock Ethereum spot ETF position worth $86.8 million.

Dartmouth College reported holding 201,531 shares of IBIT, valued at slightly over $9 million, unchanged from the previous quarter. The college moved its Ethereum ETF holdings from Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust to Grayscale’s Ethereum Staking ETF, keeping its 178,148 shares unchanged. Dartmouth College also disclosed its new position in the Bitwise Solana Staking ETF, holding 304,803 shares, currently valued at nearly $3.67 million. This is the first time an institutional endowment fund has indicated interest in expanding its investment scope to cryptocurrencies beyond Bitcoin or Ethereum.

Meanwhile, Brown University maintained its 212,500 shares of IBIT, while Emory University reduced its Bitcoin fund holdings from two funds to one. The school cleared its 4,450 shares of IBIT and, at the same time, increased its holdings in the Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust from slightly more than 1 million shares previously to 1,354,148 shares.

Traditional financial institutions are also actively rebalancing positions and hedging. Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) increased its direct holdings of IBIT, and expanded the use of put options and call options to hedge. After clearing its previously held Trump-related U.S. Bitcoin stocks, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce increased its holdings by 214,370 shares of IBIT. Barclays also disclosed its IBIT position holdings, including approximately 4.46 million spot shares and a substantial number of put and call options positions related to the ETF.

Laurore, headquartered in Hong Kong, reduced its IBIT holdings from 8,786,279 shares to 6,846,279 shares. (Source: PANews)