New SEC 13F filings show a sharp split in how major institutions handled crypto ETF exposure in the first quarter. As of March 31, Harvard University’s endowment held 3,044,612 shares of BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF, IBIT, worth about $117 million. That marked a 43% reduction from the prior filing period, following another 21% cut in Q4 2025.
Harvard scales back crypto ETF exposure
After the reduction, IBIT was no longer Harvard’s largest public holding. The filing showed TSMC ADR moving into the top spot, with Alphabet, Microsoft, and the SPDR Gold ETF also ranked ahead of the Bitcoin fund. Harvard also fully exited the BlackRock spot Ether ETF position it had only established in the previous quarter. That position had been valued at about $86.8 million at the time.
The filing gives an end-of-quarter snapshot rather than trade-by-trade detail, so it does not show exact execution prices or the timing of those sales. Still, the quarter-end data makes clear that Harvard reduced Bitcoin ETF exposure and removed its Ether ETF allocation entirely.
Mubadala adds while ADIC holds steady
Abu Dhabi took the opposite path. Sovereign fund Mubadala increased its IBIT stake from 12.7 million shares in the prior quarter to 14.72 million shares. Based on the valuation cited in the source material, the position is now worth nearly $660 million, placing it among the largest known institutional IBIT holdings.
Abu Dhabi Investment Council, or ADIC, did not change its position. Its filing showed 8,218,712 shares of IBIT as of March 31, with a value of about $315.8 million. The reported decline of roughly $92 million in book value reflected IBIT’s quarterly price drop, not a sale.
Banks build positions with hedging structures
Large banks disclosed more layered strategies. Royal Bank of Canada expanded its direct IBIT holdings and also increased put and call options tied to the fund, showing the use of derivatives to manage ETF risk. Barclays reported about 4.46 million shares of IBIT alongside a large options book. That compares with roughly 2.47 million shares at the end of 2024, indicating a clear increase in spot exposure even as protection was added.
Scotiabank also rotated its position by exiting shares related to American Bitcoin and adding 214,370 shares of IBIT. Taken together, the latest filings point to a market where institutional investors are no longer moving in one direction. Some are cutting, some are buying, and some are pairing spot holdings with options overlays.
The source also cited market data showing institutional ownership of Bitcoin ETFs rising from 24% a year earlier to 38%, with total holdings above $40 billion. Global crypto ETP net inflows reached about $18.7 billion in Q1, including more than $12.4 billion into Bitcoin ETFs.