TL;DR
- Bitwise interviewed 15 institutions and none reduced their crypto positions during a 50% market downturn; several took the opportunity to buy more.
- Bitcoin was the largest and longest-held asset across all institutional portfolios; Ethereum and Solana held smaller positions with defined exit conditions.
- Crypto allocations among those surveyed ranged from 0.5% to 13% of assets, though most were concentrated between 1% and 2%.
Bitwise published its Institutional Crypto Adoption Report with data gathered from interviews conducted between late March and April 2026, amid a market contraction of approximately 50% that began in October 2025.
The profiles consulted included investment professionals from university endowments, foundations, public pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, multi-family offices, investment consultants, and public companies. In total, 15 institutions participated in the survey.
The most striking finding from Bitwise was that none of the institutions reduced their exposure during the downturn. Several even increased their positions. When asked what would lead them to sell, none mentioned falling prices as a determining factor. Instead, they pointed to three possible scenarios: an adverse regulatory reversal, a widespread credibility crisis in the industry, or the failure of their investment thesis.
Bitwise: Bitcoin Is an Unmovable Foundation
For nearly all Bitcoin holders interviewed, BTC was their first crypto asset, the largest within the portfolio, and the longest held. Most treated it as a store of value, frequently alongside gold. Conviction around BTC showed greater solidity and uniformity than observed in any other cryptocurrency.
The picture was more heterogeneous for Ethereum and Solana. Several institutions stated that they could exit ETH or SOL within the coming years if growth in areas such as stablecoins, decentralized finance, and tokenization did not translate into accumulated value for the tokens themselves. One institution that held neither of these two assets reported having made intensive use of DeFi applications, but did not identify a clear mechanism by which that activity would benefit the underlying tokens.
Bitwise also noted that nearly all institutions surveyed were already using spot cryptocurrency ETFs or planned to do so. Some investors are migrating from private placements or direct custody toward that format.
A 13F data report published by CoinShares in June indicated that professional investors’ exposure to spot Bitcoin ETFs in the U.S. fell 17% in the first quarter. Hedge funds and broker-dealers account for roughly 96% of that reduction, while banks increased their participation.
