The cryptocurrency market had a rough time in the first quarter of this year, with the price of Bitcoin dropping to $62,000 by early February. Several institutional investors reduced their exposure as digital assets underperformed, while others saw the downtime as an opportunity to pack up. Below is how some institutional investors allocated (or withdrawn) their funds from the crypto market in Q1 2026.
Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund expands IBIT holdings, Harvard University scales back
Friday, May 15th was the deadline for institutional investors and asset managers to disclose their investment holdings as of the end of the first quarter of 2026. One of the most interesting disclosures of the day came from Mubadala Investment Company, one of Abu Dhabi’s government-backed asset managers.
The sovereign wealth fund has disclosed a significant increase in its exposure to cryptocurrencies through BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) exchange-traded fund (ETF), according to a Form 13F filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund increased its stake in the largest BTC ETF to 14,721,917 shares (worth approximately $566 million) as of March 31, up from 12,702,323 shares previously.
Some traditional financial institutions have also increased their exposure to cryptocurrencies while hedging downside risks. For example, Royal Bank of Canada revealed that it is adding to its IBIT holdings while applying conditional options (calls and puts) to cover its positions.
Another Canadian financial institution, Bank of Nova Scotia, bought 214,370 shares of IBIT stock in the first quarter of this year. Meanwhile, Barclays has revealed a multi-layered position in the BlackRock Bitcoin Exchange Traded Fund, along with large put and call options (with the IBIT ETF as the underlying asset).
Interestingly, most major university endowments (with the exception of Harvard University) revealed no significant changes in their exposure to the crypto market. Harvard University, which has the largest crypto ETF position among academic institutions, continues to reduce its holdings in BlackRock’s Bitcoin exchange-traded fund.
After reducing its IBIT position by 21% in the fourth quarter of 2025, the Harvard Endowment further reduced its holdings in the IBIT ETF and completely liquidated its Ether ETF position. The university disclosed 3,044,612 shares of IBIT stock worth about $117 million as of March 31, a 43% decrease from 5.35 million shares at the end of 2025.
Other Ivy League universities, Brown University and Dartmouth College, disclosed that their holdings of 212,500 and 201,531 shares of BlackRock’s IBIT remained unchanged in the last quarter. However, Dartmouth revealed that it has opened a new 304,803-share position (valued at $3.67 million) in the Bitwise Solana Staking ETF while moving its Ether exposure from the Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust to the Grayscale Ethereum Staking ETF.
The increased activity of institutional investors in the cryptocurrency market is often seen as vindication of the digital asset industry as a whole. These disclosures therefore suggest that large investors may have viewed the early downturn in the cryptocurrency market as an opportunity to buy rather than an indictment of its long-term potential.
Overview of virtual currency market capitalization
As of this writing, the market capitalization of cryptocurrencies is approximately $2.57 trillion, reflecting a drop of more than 1% over the past day. Although the market has recovered somewhat in the past two months, it is still down more than 12% well into 2026.
Daily cryptocurrency market capitalization | Source: TradingView TOTAL chart
Featured image from iStock, chart from TradingView
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