Bitwise Asset Management has cut its workforce by 14%, trimming headcount to about 155 from 180, as a prolonged crypto price slump has continued to squeeze many digital-asset firms.
Key Takeaways
Bitwise cut 14% of its staff, reducing headcount to about 155 from 180 employees.The cuts mirror layoffs this year at Coinbase, Gemini, Crypto.com and Kraken amid the slump.CIO Matt Hougan says bitcoin is bottoming now, citing fading leverage and record stablecoin supply.The layoffs place Bitwise alongside a growing list of digital-asset firms trimming staff this year as Coinbase also cut 14% of its workforce earlier in 2026, and exchanges Gemini, Crypto.com and Kraken have all announced reductions as the industry’s job market struggles to recover.
His latest comments add a fresh data point as stablecoin supply (often read as dry powder waiting to enter crypto markets) hit a record $322 billion earlier this year, larger than the foreign currency reserves of 95 countries.
Hougan also pointed to normalizing exchange-traded fund (ETF) flows as a sign that institutional selling pressure is easing, arguing the market is pricing bear-market conditions onto an industry roughly twice the size it was at the last cycle’s bottom.
The next real test for Hougan’s assertions arrives in September, when the Senate is expected to revisit the CLARITY Act, giving traders another catalyst to measure against his bottoming thesis.
