Bitwise cut about 14 percent of its total workforce. That reduced the number of employees to about 155 from around 180.

Foreign media including blockchain outlet Decrypt and Bloomberg reported on Aug. 12 that the layoffs are tied to a trend in which the crypto market slump has spread to spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) issuers.

Bitwise is a San Francisco-based asset manager in the United States. It runs more than 70 investment products and manages about $9 billion in assets. That includes a $2.3 billion spot bitcoin ETF.

Chief Executive Hunter Horsley (헌터 호슬리) described the workforce reduction as an adjustment in the process of long-term growth. He said he expects the company to keep growing as crypto is absorbed into the broader economy.

Market conditions remain difficult. Net assets in the spot bitcoin ETF market are estimated at about $77.5 billion, but money is concentrated in a small number of large products. BlackRock's IBIT accounts for about $47.3 billion and Fidelity's FBTC for $10.9 billion, while Bitwise's product stands at about $2.3 billion, less than 3 percent of the total. That means that even as the ETF market has grown, the benefits are not evenly flowing to smaller issuers.

Bitcoin's price trend is also a burden. Bitcoin is down by almost half from the record high it set in October 2025 and is now hovering around $64,000. For asset managers, this is a period in which it is inevitable that expanding fee-based revenue will be limited.

Restructuring across the industry is continuing. Coinbase cut 14 percent of its workforce in May. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong (브라이언 암스트롱) cited market conditions at the time and mentioned that artificial intelligence (AI) had rapidly changed the way the company works. Prime brokerage firm FalconX also cut about 10 percent of its staff in early August and let go about half of its Singapore office staff. It also withdrew its licence application in Singapore and said it would focus on derivatives.

There have also been cases of business exits. BitMEX, which created the perpetual futures swap in 2016, announced plans last month to end operations. BitMart also decided a few days later to wind down its platform operations, sending the price of its own token lower.

Money flows in the market have also changed from before. Retail investors who once led the crypto market are moving to sports betting platforms and AI-related stocks. According to CoinGecko's second-quarter report, notional trading volume in prediction markets rose 48.7 percent over three months to a record $113.8 billion. By contrast, spot trading volume at the top 10 centralised exchanges fell 27.9 percent to $1.95 trillion, and the total crypto market capitalisation also declined 12.6 percent.

Even so, Bitwise executives have not completely abandoned their market outlook. Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan (맷 호건) said in a Bloomberg TV interview this week that the market may be at the tail end of winter. He also argued that the Coldcard exploit, which saw more than $100 million flow out, instead strengthens the need to hold bitcoin through ETFs.

As a result, the layoffs are not just a cost-cutting move. Even as the spot bitcoin ETF market expands, money is concentrating in large products and retail funds are moving to other high-risk assets, signalling that a reshuffle in the crypto asset management industry is getting under way.