Institutional Investors Maintained or Boosted Crypto Holdings During Bitcoin Bear Market

The recent Bitcoin (BTC) bear market may have rattled individual investors, but major institutions appear to have taken a different approach. Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley revealed that a survey of 15 large institutional investors found none reduced their crypto exposure during the downturn. In fact, several increased their holdings. The group included endowments, corporations, sovereign investors, and pension funds.

Horsley highlighted the consistency of the responses, noting that institutions maintained or boosted their crypto allocations despite falling prices. 'If people are wondering whether institutions, investment professionals, CFAs, billionaires, brilliant people want to own the asset class, they do,' Horsley said in an interview. Every institution in the survey owned Bitcoin, with some also holding other crypto assets. However, much of this institutional adoption remains hidden from retail investors as large investors typically don't disclose their positions publicly.

Bitwise itself experienced significant inflows, with roughly $1.8 billion in the first half of 2026 and preliminary Q3 inflows estimated at around $1 billion. Horsley also noted an emerging trend of investors converting directly held crypto into ETF shares to simplify custody and portfolio management. Bitwise saw roughly $60 million to $70 million of such swaps during Q3.

Looking ahead, Horsley believes Bitcoin's investment access is now about two-thirds of the way to widespread adoption. He sees steady positive price performance as a key catalyst for attracting mainstream investors, creating urgency without making Bitcoin appear overheated. This, he believes, is the backdrop crypto has now entered.