Bitwise Asset Management has cut 14% of its staff, trimming headcount to about 155 from 180, as a prolonged crypto slump squeezes digital-asset firms. The cuts mirror layoffs this year at Coinbase, Gemini, Crypto.com and Kraken. Yet Bitwise's own chief investment officer argues bitcoin is bottoming now, citing fading leverage and record stablecoin supply.
Bitwise Asset Management has cut 14% of its staff, trimming headcount to about 155 employees from 180, according to Bloomberg. The reduction comes even as the firm's own chief investment officer argues that bitcoin's price is bottoming.
The cuts land despite growth elsewhere in the business. Bitwise recently surpassed $15 billion in client assets, up from about $11 billion in April, suggesting the layoffs reflect cost discipline rather than a shrinking business.
This contrasts with Bitwise's trajectory 18 months ago, when the firm raised $70 million in February 2025 to expand its team and product lineup. That expansion has since reversed as market conditions soured through 2026, even as Bitwise keeps building elsewhere: it has launched a spot XRP ETF on the NYSE and filed for 11 additional single-token ETFs tied to tokens including Hyperliquid, Sui, Near and Aave.
Layoffs Ripple Across the Industry
These reductions place Bitwise alongside a growing list of digital-asset firms trimming staff this year. Coinbase also cut 14% of its workforce earlier in 2026, and exchanges Gemini, Crypto.com and Kraken have announced their own reductions as the industry's job market struggles to recover. Trackers have counted more than 7,254 disclosed job cuts across 47 companies so far this year, a figure researchers say likely understates the real total since many disclosures omit concrete headcount numbers.
A Wallet Hack and a Stalled Bill Add to the Strain
Much of the pressure traces back to bitcoin's choppy price action in recent months. That volatility was compounded when a firmware flaw rooted in a 2021 Coldcard software update drained roughly $116 million from thousands of addresses across four separate waves starting July 30.
The CLARITY Act also stalled in the Senate ahead of its August recess. Bitcoin absorbed both events without a sharp directional move, but the extended uncertainty has weighed on trading volumes and, by extension, asset manager revenue.
The CIO Sees a Bottom Forming
Bitwise's chief investment officer, Matt Hougan, sees it differently. Hougan told reporters that bitcoin is "in the process of bottoming right now," pointing to a collapse in excess leverage across crypto derivatives markets and funding rates turning decisively negative, amongst other factors.
Hougan's comments add a fresh data point on stablecoin supply, often read as dry powder waiting to enter crypto markets. That supply hit a record $322 billion earlier this year, larger than the foreign currency reserves of 95 countries. He also pointed to normalizing exchange-traded fund flows as a sign that institutional selling pressure is easing, arguing the market is pricing bear-market conditions onto an industry roughly twice the size it was at the last cycle's bottom.
The next real test for Hougan's thesis arrives in September, when the Senate is expected to revisit the CLARITY Act.
Source: Bitcoin News
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