Bitwise has reduced its workforce by about 14%, cutting headcount from roughly 180 employees to about 155, as the crypto asset manager closes eight exchange-traded products while expanding into staking-linked and tokenized-fund offerings.
The reduction amounts to about 25 roles based on the company’s rounded headcount figures. Bitwise has not identified the affected teams, disclosed severance arrangements, or said whether additional staffing changes are planned. The firm also has not linked particular layoffs to particular fund closures or new business lines.
The timing places the workforce cut alongside a reshaping of Bitwise’s product catalogue. Between late April and the end of June, the boards overseeing Bitwise funds approved the liquidation of eight ETFs, including thematic equity, asset-rotation and options-income strategies. Each closure removes a product that required portfolio operations, valuation, trading oversight, compliance and recurring public disclosures.
Bitwise is simultaneously building businesses that are more closely connected to institutional distribution, staking and tokenized investment vehicles. That combination suggests a more concentrated operating model: fewer specialised retail-oriented ETFs alongside a continued push to manage larger pools of client assets and serve wealth-management channels.
Client assets fell between company disclosures
Bitwise’s publicly stated client-asset total also changed sharply across announcements issued earlier in the year. On February 3, the company said it had more than $15 billion in client assets. A May 1 notice put client assets at $11 billion as of April 1.
The two figures indicate a decline of at least $4 billion between the disclosures, though they do not establish that clients withdrew that amount. Bitwise did not provide a breakdown separating cryptocurrency price changes from subscriptions, redemptions, or differences in the products and assets included in each reported total.
That distinction is particularly relevant for a manager with substantial exposure to cryptocurrency-linked funds. A falling market can reduce assets under management even when client capital remains in place, while a changing product set can also alter reported totals. The available company announcements do not provide enough detail to assign the movement to a single cause.
The staffing cut follows this period of lower disclosed client assets, but Bitwise has not said whether reduced management fees, product-level economics, or a broader cost review drove the decision. Without that explanation, the clearest visible connection is operational: the firm is supporting a changing product portfolio with a smaller employee base.
Eight ETFs were liquidated from April through August
The first pair of closures began with an April 30 decision by the Bitwise Funds Trust board to liquidate the Bitwise Web3 ETF and the Bitwise Trendwise BTC/ETH and Treasuries Rotation Strategy ETF.
The Web3 ETF offered equity exposure to companies associated with blockchain and digital-asset infrastructure. The Trendwise strategy shifted allocations among Bitcoin, Ethereum and US Treasuries. Both products stopped trading during May before their liquidations were completed.
On June 30, the board approved the liquidation of six further ETFs using options-income strategies tied to individual assets or companies: Coinbase, MARA, Strategy, GameStop, Circle and Ethereum. Those funds ceased trading in August and distributed liquidation proceeds to shareholders.
The closures span products designed for distinct segments of the retail ETF market. The Web3 fund targeted thematic equity exposure, the Trendwise vehicle packaged a tactical allocation strategy, and the six options-income funds used options to seek income from a set of volatile crypto-adjacent equities and Ethereum.
Liquidating eight ETFs in around three months reduces the maintenance burden across the fund platform. ETF sponsors must maintain daily valuation processes, trading and market-making relationships, portfolio reporting, regulatory filings and shareholder communications even for funds with limited scale. A smaller lineup can allow a manager to concentrate resources on products with stronger demand or strategic value.
New products extend into staking and tokenized funds
The product closures have not marked a retreat from launching new investment vehicles. In April, Bitwise introduced an Avalanche exchange-traded product in Europe that included internal staking arrangements. Staking involves committing tokens to help secure a proof-of-stake network in return for potential rewards, creating a feature that differs from straightforward spot-asset exposure.
In May, Bitwise launched a Hyperliquid ETF. The firm also entered tokenized fund management in June through its acquisition of Superstate’s Crypto Carry Fund, which Bitwise said had assets exceeding $267 million at the time of the transaction.
That acquisition gives Bitwise a position in a fund format that uses blockchain-based tokens to represent ownership interests. The model aims to combine conventional fund management with onchain settlement and transfer capabilities, an area drawing attention from asset managers seeking to place regulated financial products on public or permissioned blockchain infrastructure.
Bitwise’s newer offerings point toward areas where product design, custody, staking operations and institutional distribution can matter as much as the underlying token exposure. They also may require different capabilities from the teams that supported a larger collection of niche ETFs.
Firm retains a large distribution network
As of a June 30 company release, Bitwise said it managed 70 investment products and served more than 5,500 private wealth-management teams, registered investment advisers and family offices. The company also said it worked with more than 20 banks and broker-dealers.
Those figures show that the eight fund liquidations represent a selective reduction within a much wider platform rather than an exit from the ETF market. Bitwise remains active across crypto investment products and distribution channels, although the firm has not provided updated assets-under-management figures following the April 1 snapshot.
Bitwise Chief Executive Officer Hunter Horsley said the remaining workforce was the largest team in the company’s eight-year history. With about 155 employees, the firm will now be expected to support its remaining product range, its European ETP activity, staking-related structures and its new tokenized-fund operation with fewer staff than before the restructuring.
The recent actions place Bitwise’s emphasis on scale and product fit rather than maintaining every specialised ETF strategy. Whether that approach improves its client-asset trajectory will depend on demand for the surviving funds and newer institutional products, as well as movements in the crypto markets that influence the value of assets already under management.
Explore how tokenized ETPs reshape product strategy as Bitwise pivots toward staking, institutional clients, and on-chain fund structures.
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