Bitwise cuts 14% of staff amid prolonged crypto market downturn
Crypto asset manager Bitwise Asset Management has cut 14% of its workforce amid the ongoing market downturn. Following the layoffs, the company has around 155 employees worldwide.
Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley said the restructuring would allow the company to continue expanding. He added that the firm aims to position itself for further growth as digital assets become more deeply integrated into the global economy.
Bitwise key fund assets fall 31%
Horsley told The Block that the layoffs took place last week. Before the restructuring, Bitwise employed around 180 people globally.
The cuts come amid a prolonged decline in the cryptocurrency market, which has put pressure on asset managers. Net assets of the Bitwise 10 Crypto Index Fund (BITW), one of the company's key products, fell 31% during the first seven months of 2026.
At the same time, Bitwise continues to expand certain areas of its business. In February, the company completed its acquisition of institutional staking infrastructure provider Chorus One. The deal allowed Bitwise to expand its staking services across more than 30 Proof-of-Stake blockchains.
The asset manager also recently linked part of the revenue from its new Hyperliquid-based exchange-traded fund to the HYPE token. Bitwise plans to use a portion of the ETF's management fees to buy and stake the asset.
Crypto companies continue cutting staff
Bitwise has become the latest major industry company to reduce its workforce in 2026. Market participants are reassessing costs amid falling digital asset prices while increasingly adopting artificial intelligence to automate parts of their operations.
In July, Polygon Labs conducted its second round of layoffs since the beginning of the year. The restructuring came amid its acquisition of Coinme and the company's shift toward the payments business.
In June, crypto custodian BitGo cut 15% of its workforce, citing changes across the industry. A month earlier, Coinbase laid off 14% of its employees amid the market downturn and a broader shift toward the use of AI in its operations.
Despite the current environment, Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan believes the bear market may have already bottomed. In an interview with Bloomberg, he pointed to Bitcoin's resilience in the face of negative developments, including delays to the CLARITY Act and Strategy's sale of some of its BTC holdings.
According to Hougan, major wealth management platforms gradually expanding their clients' access to digital assets could become one of the key drivers of the next phase of growth.
Against this backdrop, Bitwise also expects cryptocurrencies to become increasingly integrated into the traditional financial system. The company's analysts previously said pilot projects by major te
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