Ether gains favor as Harvard trims IBIT, initiates ETHA

What Harvard Management Company changed in Q4 2025: IBIT ~$265M, ETHA ~$87M

Harvard Management Company (HMC) rebalanced its crypto holdings in the fourth quarter of 2025 by cutting its iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) stake and initiating a position in the iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA), as reported by The Harvard Crimson. The endowment reduced IBIT by roughly 21%, about 1.46 million shares, bringing the position to approximately $265 million, and added nearly $87 million of ETHA, around 3.87 million shares.

The moves amounted to a rotation within digital assets rather than an exit. The new ETHA position was described as HMC’s first reported exposure to Ethereum via a U.S.-listed spot ETF in this disclosure cycle, according to the same report.

Why HMC rotated: diversification, utility, and relative-value ETH vs BTC

The positioning is broadly consistent with a diversification tilt, pairing Bitcoin’s store-of-value narrative with Ethereum’s smart-contract ecosystem. Analysts have framed the shift as a rotation within crypto that balances concentration risk and seeks relative value between BTC and ETH, according to AMBCrypto.

“Harvard is likely making a relative-value trade with the belief that ETH is undervalued relative to BTC,” said Sean Bill, co-founder and CIO of Bitcoin Standard Treasury Co. Providing a note of caution, Andrew F. Siegel, Emeritus Professor of Finance at the University of Washington, called Harvard’s prior Bitcoin exposure “risky,” citing drawdowns and concerns about “intrinsic value.”

Immediate impact: institutional signal, crypto exposure retained amid volatility

The reweighting signals that large allocators can stay invested in digital assets while refining mix and thesis amid market swings. Even as spot crypto ETFs have been battered by volatility since October, university endowments appear to be holding positions, as reported by Pensions & Investments.

Near term, the change is more a message about portfolio construction than market timing: crypto exposure remains, but with a broader set of potential return drivers. Any performance impact will depend on how BTC and ETH relative dynamics evolve and how correlations behave through future volatility regimes.

At the time of this writing, Coinbase Global, Inc. shares trade at $168.78, up 2.71% intraday, offering sector context amid elevated crypto market sensitivity, based on data from NasdaqGS.

IBIT vs ETHA: structures, risks, and endowment considerations

IBIT and ETHA are iShares-branded exchange-traded funds that provide exposure to Bitcoin and Ethereum, respectively, via listed shares and established market plumbing. For an endowment allocator, the rotation underscores classic considerations: diversification across distinct crypto use cases, sensitivity to deep drawdowns, and the challenge of valuation frameworks in emerging asset classes.

Critiques emphasize the speculative nature of digital assets and the risk of underdiversification when positions become large relative to risk budgets. Supporters point to Ethereum’s broader utility, smart contracts and applications, alongside Bitcoin’s store-of-value role, which together may create differentiated drivers within a single asset class. The net effect for an institution like HMC is a retained but rebalanced crypto sleeve that seeks to manage concentration while keeping exposure to the theme.