• Bitwise's report found none of 15 institutions cut crypto allocations during the 50% drawdown.

• Every crypto-holding institution owned Bitcoin, usually its first, largest and longest-held position.

• Institutional crypto allocations ranged from 0.5% to 13%, with most between 1% and 2%.

Bitwise Survey: 15 Institutions Held Firm Through 50% Drawdown

A 50% market drawdown failed to shake institutional conviction in Bitcoin (BTC), according to Bitwise's first-ever Institutional Crypto Adoption Report, released Sept. 23. The asset manager interviewed 15 institutions across seven categories — endowments, foundations, public pensions, sovereign wealth funds, multi-family offices, investment consultants and public companies — in late March and April, while the market was still working through a decline that began in October 2025. Not one of the 15 cut its crypto allocation during the roughly 50% drop, and several bought more. Every crypto-holding institution in the group owned the asset, and for nearly all of them it was the first coin they ever bought, their largest position and their longest-held one. Most treat it as a store of value, held alongside gold as a hedge against currency debasement. Asked what would actually make them sell, none pointed to falling prices: the cited triggers were a regulatory reversal, an industry-wide credibility crisis or the collapse of the investment thesis itself. Several said they would exit Ether or Solana if growth in network use failed to benefit the tokens — a conditional stance that does not extend to their Bitcoin allocation. The survey's steadiness contrasts with reported flow data: a 13F-based analysis from CoinShares published in June found professional investors' reported US spot ETF exposure fell 17% in the first quarter, with hedge funds and brokerages driving roughly 96% of the reduction while banks added exposure. That gap suggests fast-money accounts, not long-horizon allocators, drove the reported pullback — and flows can swing back just as hard, as in the $2.65 billion five-day inflow streak into BlackRock-led spot Bitcoin ETFs our desk tracked. Several respondents have now lived through multiple 50%-plus drawdowns, 2022 included.

Depth of allocation varied sharply by institution type. Across the cohort, crypto exposure ranged from 0.5% to 13% of investable assets, though most sat between 1% and 2%. Endowments and foundations reported 0.5% to 10%, generally at the low end; sovereign wealth funds clustered at 1% to 1.5%; public pensions at 1.5% to 4.5%; multi-family offices reached up to 13% with a 5% target; and public companies committed 1% to 10% of surplus cash. Vehicles mix spot crypto ETFs, direct custody, venture exposure and hedge funds, but the ETF dominates: nearly every institution surveyed already uses spot crypto ETFs or plans to. Those who migrated from direct holding cited lower all-in costs, lighter operational burden and the ability to run crypto through the same administrative pipes as existing products. Attitudes toward altcoin allocations were far less settled. Ether and Solana holders ran smaller positions with shorter horizons, and several said they could sell within a few years if stablecoin, decentralized finance and tokenization growth failed to accrue value to the assets themselves. One institution that held neither had used DeFi applications extensively yet saw no clear path from that activity to token value. Bitwise chief investment officer Matt Hogan said the debate has moved from whether to hold crypto at all to how much, in what form and in which assets.

Five-Year Outlook: Majority to Hold Crypto

Our reading of the report is that Bitcoin has become the default institutional allocation, while ETH and SOL remain conditional bets awaiting proof that network growth accrues to token value. Bitwise itself argues published data understates real adoption: some institutions hold crypto directly or through structures invisible to 13F filings, making reported exposure a floor, not a ceiling. It forecasts a majority of institutional investors will hold crypto within five years, driven by regulatory clarity and peer institutional adoption — momentum visible in indexes where Brazil's $252.5 billion crypto economy recently outranked the US. Institutions that held through a 50% decline behave like permanent capital: the HODL discipline has gone professional.