Bitwise: No Institutional Crypto Allocations Cut During 50% Market Drawdown
Institutional investors held steady or bought more during the recent market decline, with Bitcoin remaining the primary conviction asset.
Quick Look
- None of the 15 institutions interviewed by asset manager Bitwise cut their crypto allocations during a roughly 50% market drawdown, while several bought more.
- Bitcoin remained the largest and longest-held position, whereas Ether and Solana faced stricter conditions for selling.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
Bitwise conducted interviews for its Institutional Crypto Adoption Report in late March and April during a market decline beginning in October 2025.
None of the 15 institutions interviewed by asset manager Bitwise cut their crypto allocations during a roughly 50% market drawdown, while several bought more.
Every institution in the group that owned crypto held Bitcoin (BTC), usually as its largest and longest-held position, while Ether (ETH) and Solana (SOL) were smaller bets with shorter investment horizons and conditions for selling.
Bitwise’s Institutional Crypto Adoption Report draws on interviews conducted in late March and April amid a market decline that began in October 2025. The interviews included investment professionals at endowments, foundations, public pensions, sovereign wealth funds, multi-family offices, investment consultants and public companies.
When asked what could prompt them to sell, none of the institutions cited falling prices. Instead, respondents pointed to a regulatory reversal, an industry-wide credibility crisis or a failure of their investment thesis.
Some said they would sell Ether or Solana if growth in network use failed to benefit the tokens.
Crypto allocations among those with exposure ranged from 0.5% to 13% of investable assets, though most were between 1% and 2%. Bitwise said almost every institution interviewed either used spot crypto exchange-traded funds or planned to, with some investors shifting from private placements or direct custody toward ETFs.
A 13F data report from CoinShares published in June found that professional investors’ reported US spot Bitcoin ETF exposure fell 17% in the first quarter. Hedge funds and brokerages accounted for roughly 96% of the reduction, while banks added exposure.
Bitcoin leads institutional conviction as ETH, SOL face ‘prove it’ test
For almost all the Bitcoin holders interviewed, it was their first, largest and longest-held crypto asset. Most treated BTC as a store of value, often alongside gold.
Conviction around ETH and SOL was less consistent.
Several institutions said they could exit ETH or SOL over the next few years if growth in areas such as stablecoins, decentralized finance and tokenization failed to translate into value accruing to the assets themselves.
One institution that held neither Ether nor Solana had used DeFi applications extensively but saw no clear way that activity would benefit the underlying tokens, according to Bitwise.
Open Questions
- Which specific institutions were interviewed by Bitwise?
- How large are the total assets under management for the interviewed institutions?
