None of the 15 institutions Bitwise Asset Management interviewed reduced its crypto allocation during a market decline of roughly 50% that ran from October 2025 to April 2026, and several added to positions, according to Bitcoinmagazine. Every crypto-owning institution in the study held bitcoin, in most cases as its largest and longest-held digital asset, the outlet reported on September 24, 2026.
The interviews covered senior allocators at endowments, foundations, public pensions, sovereign wealth funds, multi-family offices, investment consultants and public companies. Asked what would push them to sell, no institution named a falling price, Cointelegraph reported. Respondents instead cited a regulatory reversal, an industry-wide credibility crisis or a failure of their investment thesis.
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Key facts
- Bitwise’s Institutional Crypto Adoption Report draws on interviews conducted in late March and April 2026, during a decline that began in October 2025, per Cointelegraph.
- Every institution in the study that owns crypto owns bitcoin, and for nearly all of them it was their first crypto purchase, their largest holding and the one held longest, Bitcoinmagazine reported.
- Crypto allocations among those with exposure ranged from 0.5% to 13% of investable assets, though most fell between 1% and 2%, according to Cointelegraph.
- One endowment framed its position as a long-term bet on bitcoin reaching a $20 trillion market within five to 15 years, Bitcoinmagazine reported.
- One sovereign wealth fund is partly funding its crypto allocation by selling gold and foreign exchange reserves, per Bitcoinmagazine.
Bitcoin sits with gold in allocation models
Several endowments built bitcoin and gold positions side by side as hedges against currency debasement. One institution files bitcoin directly in its “gold bucket,” and an endowment told Bitwise that investors are starting to use bitcoin as a fiat debasement trade alongside gold. One institution went further, suggesting it might abandon gold entirely in favor of bitcoin within a decade.
Ether and solana received different treatment. Cointelegraph reported that several institutions said they could exit ETH or SOL over the next few years if growth in stablecoins, decentralized finance and tokenization failed to translate into value accruing to the tokens themselves. One institution that held neither asset had used DeFi applications extensively but saw no clear path for that activity to benefit the underlying tokens, according to Bitwise. Bitcoinmagazine characterized the smaller tokens as speculative technology bets with explicit deadlines to prove their value.
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Bitwise said almost every institution interviewed either used spot crypto exchange-traded funds or planned to, with some shifting from private placements or direct custody toward ETFs, Cointelegraph reported. As a point of comparison, a June CoinShares 13F data report found professional investors’ reported US spot bitcoin ETF exposure fell 17% in the first quarter, with hedge funds and brokerages accounting for roughly 96% of the reduction while banks added exposure.
Why it matters
The findings suggest a split in how large allocators treat digital assets: bitcoin functions as a long-duration holding, while other tokens carry explicit performance tests. That distinction shapes which assets can expect sticky institutional demand if volatility continues. The debasement trade had helped drive bitcoin’s earlier run before losing steam after October, when traders shifted attention to AI-related equities, Bitcoinmagazine noted. Bitwise said it expects a majority of institutions to hold crypto within five years.
What to watch
Whether the pattern holds through the next drawdown, and whether ether and solana attract comparable conviction if stablecoin, DeFi and tokenization growth starts accruing to the tokens. Bitcoinmagazine reported bitcoin recently stood at $84,506, up nearly 7% over 30 days, a level that will test whether the allocators interviewed stay put.
This is not financial advice; crypto markets are volatile and uncertain.
Sources: Bitcoin Magazine, Cointelegraph
