Bitwise Cuts 14% of Workforce in Response to Crypto Bear Market
Bitwise Asset Management has laid off about 14% of its staff during a prolonged downturn in cryptocurrency prices, reducing its workforce from approximately 180 to about 155 employees.
The company confirmed this adjustment to Bloomberg, attributing it to the long-term weakness in digital asset prices.
CEO Hunter Horsley stated that even after the layoffs, Bitwise's employee count remains the highest in its eight-year history, and he expects the business to continue growing as cryptocurrencies further integrate into the global economy.
Bitwise currently manages over 70 products, including ETFs, private funds, and separately managed accounts, with its Bitcoin ETF having a size of approximately $2.3 billion and total assets under management of about $9 billion.
This layoff comes amid a roughly 10-month slump in the crypto market, with Bitcoin down about 50% from its peak last October.
Market mechanisms indicate that the event is driven by falling crypto prices leading to revenue and valuation pressures, with capital and operational costs shifting towards a streamlined core business; benefiting asset management firms that maintain profitability through cost-cutting, while impacting laid-off employees and related service providers reliant on expansion.
The company continues to operate its core product lines, including the Bitcoin ETF.
Source: Public Information
ABAB AI Insight
Since its inception, Bitwise has focused on cryptocurrency asset management, launching multiple index and spot ETF products, and is expected to achieve scale expansion after the approval of Bitcoin spot ETFs in 2024-2025, reaching a total AUM of approximately $9 billion, becoming one of the major players in the industry.
On the capital path, the company proactively reduces costs in the bear market after expanding during the bull market, motivated by aligning current revenue levels with long-term integration expectations, shifting resources from personnel expansion to core product maintenance and deepening institutional channels.
Similar cases can be seen with crypto institutions like Coinbase also laying off staff and cutting costs during market downturns, as well as traditional asset management companies adjusting personnel during asset price declines; currently, crypto asset management is in a phase of contraction prioritizing efficiency over rapid expansion.
The structural judgment indicates capital concentration, with the mechanism being that the bear market compresses fee revenues, forcing mid-sized asset managers to improve per capita management scale through layoffs, accelerating industry concentration towards leading firms and eliminating redundant operational capabilities.
ABAB News · Cognitive Law
Layoffs in a bear market are an inevitable action for asset management companies to match revenues.
Streamlining after scale expansion determines the survival rate in the next cycle.
The wider the product line, the more necessary it is to actively reduce personnel costs in a bear market.