Bitwise Cuts 14 Percent of Its Staff, Even as Its Own Executives Talk Up Growth Ahead
“Equips us well for the ongoing growth we’ve seen this year and expect to continue as crypto further integrates into the global economy.” That’s how Bitwise Asset Management CEO Hunter Horsley described a round of layoffs that cut roughly 14% of his own company’s staff — a framing that asks employees and clients alike to read a headcount reduction as a growth strategy rather than a retreat.
The numbers are straightforward enough on their own. Bitwise trimmed its workforce from about 180 employees to around 155, a cut of roughly 25 people, in a move disclosed in mid-August. Horsley noted that even after the reduction, the San Francisco-based firm’s staff remains the largest it has been in Bitwise’s eight-year history — a detail meant to soften the blow, though it doesn’t change the fact that a firm managing billions in crypto index funds and ETFs decided its current headcount was more than the moment called for.
The backdrop is a rough year for the assets Bitwise’s business depends on. The Bitwise 10 Crypto Index Fund, one of the firm’s flagship products, saw its net assets decline by roughly 31% over the first seven months of 2026 as the broader crypto market slumped. That kind of asset decline directly squeezes management-fee revenue at any fund manager, regardless of how the underlying business is otherwise performing — and Bitwise has, in fact, kept expanding on other fronts even while cutting staff, having closed its acquisition of staking provider Chorus One in February and reported strong inflows into its Hyperliquid and XRP-linked products.
Part of a Wider Pattern
Bitwise is not cutting alone. Coinbase eliminated around 700 positions, also roughly 14% of its workforce, in a reduction its executives partly attributed to AI tools accelerating internal productivity. Kraken’s parent company Payward quietly cut about 150 roles, and Gemini and Crypto.com have made their own reductions this year. Trackers followed more than 7,254 disclosed job cuts across 47 crypto companies through the first eight months of 2026 alone — a figure that almost certainly understates the true total, since not every firm discloses layoffs publicly.
Bitwise’s own Chief Investment Officer, Matt Hougan, has been publicly arguing the downturn driving these cuts may be closer to its end than its middle. Hougan has pointed to positive ETF flows, continued buying from long-term holders, and diminishing market reaction to negative headlines as signs that bitcoin’s bear market is bottoming, predicting the asset could finish the year “significantly higher” than current levels.
Whether that call proves right or wrong won’t undo the 25 jobs already gone. But it does explain the gap between Bitwise’s public messaging and what a 14% cut usually signals: a management team betting the current slump is a trough rather than a new normal, trimming costs to get through it rather than retreating from the business altogether.
Curious about the funds and products firms like Bitwise actually build around bitcoin? Coin680’s Bitcoin Academy breaks down how crypto index funds and ETFs work.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice. Statements about future price predictions from any individual, including asset managers, are opinions and not guarantees — always do your own research before making investment decisions.