Bitwise Report: Institutions Held Bitcoin Through 50% Crash

Bitwise has published its first institutional crypto adoption report, and bitcoin sits squarely at the center of it.

Bitcoin is the anchor

The asset manager interviewed senior investment professionals at 15 of the world’s largest institutions between late March and April 2026, spanning endowments, pension funds, family offices, sovereign wealth funds and public companies.

Every institution in the group that owns crypto owns bitcoin, and for nearly all of them it was their first, largest and longest-held position.

Bitwise wrote in the report:

“It is the only crypto asset on which institutional conviction is consistent.”

Allocations ranged from 0.5% to 13% of investable assets, with most falling between 1% and 2%, and almost every institution either uses spot bitcoin ETFs or plans to.

Paired with gold

Many of the allocators now treat bitcoin and gold as two expressions of the same fiat debasement trade.

One institution even holds bitcoin inside its “gold bucket” and told Bitwise:

“We could be having this conversation in 10 years and we’re telling you we gave up on gold and it’s all bitcoin now.”

Holding through the drawdown

Crypto markets fell roughly 50% between October 2025 and April 2026, yet not one institution reduced its allocation, and several bought more.

None of them named price as a reason to sell, pointing instead to a regulatory reversal or an industry-wide credibility crisis.

One investment consultant explained:

“If the thesis is right, given the S-curve of adoption, selling now would be selling too early.”

Five-year outlook

Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan wrote that the firm expects crypto to be held by the majority of institutional investors within the next five years.