Bitwise cut 14% of staff to ~155 after its BITW index fund shed 48% of assets, investors redeemed $161M, and the staking arm from the Chorus One deal adds revenue.
Alpha Score of 37 reflects weak overall profile with poor momentum, weak value, poor quality, strong sentiment.
Bitwise Asset Management cut 14% of its global workforce last week, bringing headcount to about 155 from roughly 180. The reduction came six months after the firm closed its acquisition of staking provider Chorus One, a deal that had pushed total staff to about 200.
CEO Hunter Horsley confirmed the cuts in an emailed statement. 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,” Horsley said.
The layoffs track a sharp decline in the firm’s flagship product. Net assets in the Bitwise 10 Crypto Index Fund (BITW) fell 48.27% in the first half of 2026, dropping from $1.03 billion to $532.8 million, according to a quarterly SEC filing. Investors redeemed $161.2 million during the period against just $3.5 million in new creations. Shares outstanding fell 18.97%, meaning the outflow reflected capital leaving the fund, not merely price depreciation.
Bitcoin’s weight in the ten-asset basket rose from 75.11% to 77.81% as of June 30. The fund, marketed as a diversified crypto index, now holds more than three-quarters of its assets in a single coin. Fees from those holdings support the firm’s operating costs.
Bitwise closed the Chorus One acquisition on February 24. The deal added more than $2.2 billion in staked assets, 50 technology professionals, and coverage of more than 30 proof-of-stake networks including Solana, Avalanche, Sui, and Aptos. Horsley called staking “one of the most compelling growth opportunities” for clients who hold crypto assets at the time. The unit was consolidated into Bitwise Onchain Solutions, the company’s staking arm.
Bitwise is not alone in cutting costs. Coinbase laid off about 700 employees, or 14% of its staff, in May as CEO Brian Armstrong pushed an AI-first overhaul focused on smaller teams. BitGo cut 15% in June. Polygon Labs is trimming staff for the second time this year. By late July, 17 major crypto ventures had closed entirely and roughly 95 had shut down operations in 2026, part of what one outlet called the year of crypto shutdowns.
CIO Matt Hougan argued on X hours before the layoffs surfaced that bitcoin has likely hit the bottom of the bear market because the price has stopped reacting to bad news. He cited the Coldcard hack, selling by Strategy, and disappointment over the CLARITY Act. “It’s true,” he wrote.
The BITW filing covers the period through June 30. No update to the fund’s net asset value or redemption figures has been filed since that date.
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