Bitwise cuts 14% of jobs as BITW assets fall 31% in 2026

Bitwise Asset Management has cut 14% of its workforce, reducing its global team to about 155 employees as the crypto asset manager operates through a prolonged market downturn.

According to recent media reporting Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley confirmed the layoffs in an emailed statement, saying the staff reduction was completed last week and leaves the company positioned to continue expanding its business.

Horsley said the adjustment “equips us well for the ongoing growth we’ve seen this year and expect to continue as crypto further integrates into the global economy.”

Bitwise layoffs reduce global team to about 155

The 14% reduction means Bitwise entered August with a smaller workforce even as the company continued building its investment and staking businesses.

Market conditions have put pressure on some of the products managed by the firm. The Bitwise 10 Crypto Index Fund, or BITW, recorded a 31% drop in net assets during the first seven months of 2026, according to data cited by The Block.

BITW provides exposure to a basket of major cryptocurrencies, making the decline in its assets one measure of how the prolonged downturn has affected investment products tied directly to crypto prices.

Bitwise has continued launching and operating products despite the weaker market. In May, the company’s Hyperliquid exchange-traded fund recorded about $19 million in inflows during a single trading day, its largest daily inflow at the time.

Horsley said the fund generated roughly $22 million in trading volume that day, meaning most of the activity came from purchases. As previously reported by crypto.news, the Bitwise Hyperliquid ETF had launched on the New York Stock Exchange on May 15 with a 0.34% sponsor fee, which was waived for the first month on the first $500 million in assets.

Demand has also emerged for some of the company’s other altcoin products. In June, Horsley said Bitwise’s XRP exchange-traded products in the U.S. and Europe had collected more than $200 million in inflows since the beginning of 2026.

The inflows came while Bitwise continued expanding the range of regulated crypto investment products it offers, even as falling digital asset prices weighed on parts of its existing portfolio.

Acquisitions continue despite weaker crypto conditions

Alongside its fund business, Bitwise has used acquisitions to add services for institutional crypto investors.

In February, the asset manager completed its acquisition of Chorus One, an institutional staking provider. The transaction expanded Bitwise’s staking operations at a time when the company was continuing to build services beyond its core crypto investment products.

The workforce reduction therefore follows a period in which Bitwise has been adding businesses and launching investment vehicles while managing the effects of lower crypto prices.

Earlier in February, Horsley disclosed that one Bitwise wealth management client invested $11 million in Bitcoin during a market correction after spending roughly two years in contact with the company without previously buying crypto.

As covered in a February crypto.news report, Horsley said the purchase represented the client’s first crypto investment and argued that some institutional and high-net-worth investors were treating lower prices as an entry opportunity rather than simply reducing their exposure.

Bitwise’s latest staff cuts, however, place the company alongside several other crypto businesses that have reduced headcount during 2026.

Crypto layoffs have continued through 2026

In June, crypto custody and infrastructure company BitGo cut nearly 15% of its workforce as it redirected resources toward security, trading, stablecoins, settlement and artificial intelligence infrastructure.

BitGo CEO Mike Belshe described the reduction as a one-time action and said the company did not expect further cuts. The firm’s 2025 annual report listed 603 full-time employees at the end of that year, meaning a 15% reduction based on that figure would represent roughly 90 positions.

The company continued recruiting for selected positions after the cuts, with 51 roles listed across engineering, compliance, finance, sales, security and other departments. BitGo had also entered the public market in January after pricing its initial public offering at $18 per share and raising about $212.8 million. The June staff reduction came as its shares remained well below the IPO price.

Coinbase made a similar reduction in May, announcing plans to cut about 14% of its workforce while lowering costs during weaker crypto market conditions.

CEO Brian Armstrong linked the decision to both the market cycle and the company’s increased use of artificial intelligence. He said smaller teams were able to complete work faster with AI tools and outlined plans to limit the organization to five management layers below the CEO and chief operating officer.

Coinbase also planned to remove roles focused solely on management and test smaller teams in which employees could work across product, design and engineering functions. Coinbase announced the cuts while continuing to develop new products and expand its use of internal AI systems.

Kraken also reportedly cut around 150 positions in May as the exchange increased its use of AI across its operations. Bloomberg reported that the reductions could affect the timing of Kraken’s planned U.S. public listing, potentially pushing it into 2027.

Dune Analytics reduced its workforce by 25% during the same month, with CEO Fredrik Haga citing AI tools as the main reason for the restructuring while the blockchain data company concentrated resources on its core products.

Polygon Labs followed with another round of layoffs in July while working to complete its acquisition of Coinme and reorganizing its business around payments. The company had already been building a payments operation around Coinme, Sequence and its Open Money Stack after spending more than $250 million on the Coinme and Sequence deals.

Bitwise CIO sees signs of a Bitcoin bottom

While Bitwise has reduced staff, its investment team has remained positive about the direction of the crypto market.

Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan told Bloomberg on Tuesday that Bitcoin’s reaction to recent negative developments could mean the bear market has already reached its bottom.

Hougan pointed to Bitcoin’s ability to hold up despite delays involving the CLARITY Act and Bitcoin sales by Strategy. His view followed a July episode in which Bitcoin recovered after Strategy disclosed the sale of 3,588 BTC for about $216 million.

Horsley responded to that recovery at the time by writing that “Bitcoin wants to be higher.” Bitcoin had briefly fallen before moving back toward the $63,000 area, while Strategy said the sale was used to fund dividends tied to its Digital Credit securities.

Hougan also told Bloomberg that large wealth management platforms could become the “quiet catalyst” for the next crypto bull market, placing institutional distribution among the factors he expects to influence the market after the current downturn.