Overview
- Bitwise’s Institutional Crypto Adoption Report, published Sept. 23, says none of the 15 large allocators it interviewed reduced crypto allocations during the roughly 50% drawdown from late 2025 to mid-2026 and several increased exposure.
- Every institution in the sample that owned crypto held Bitcoin, and for most it was their first, largest and longest-held crypto position used as a store-of-value alongside or in place of gold.
- Reported crypto allocations in the group ranged from 0.5% to 13% of investable assets, with most respondents clustering between 1% and 2%, and some investor types (family offices) taking the largest shares.
- Spot Bitcoin ETFs are now the primary access route for surveyed institutions because they cut custody and operational costs, though public ETF flow data showed short-term outflows during the downturn that likely reflected hedge funds and retail selling rather than long-term allocators.
- Bitwise cautions the findings rest on 15 anonymized interviews and note that Form 13F filings undercount exposure because some institutions use structures that avoid 13F visibility, a gap that means public filings should be treated as a floor not a full picture.