Institutional investors did not sell their crypto holdings when prices were cut in half between October 2025 and April 2026 — and several bought the dip.

That is the central finding of a new report from Bitwise Asset Management, which describes the study as the firm's first Institutional Crypto Adoption Report. Bitwise interviewed senior allocators at 15 major institutions, including endowments, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, family offices and public companies — vehicles that, in the case of endowments and pensions, manage capital on multi-decade horizons for universities and retirees. Not one institution reduced its crypto allocation during the sell-off, and when asked what would make them exit their positions, none cited a downturn in price. The full report is available on Bitwise's website: The First Ever Bitwise Institutional Crypto Adoption Report.

Bitcoin as the Core Holding

Every institution in the study that owns crypto owns bitcoin. For nearly all of them, it was their first crypto purchase, their largest holding and the one they have held the longest.

Other cryptocurrency tokens receive different treatment: institutions hold them in smaller amounts as speculative technology bets, with explicit deadlines for them to prove their value. Those review windows hand the industry a set of dated proof points to watch as each token's evaluation period runs out. Bitcoin is the only crypto asset where institutional conviction is consistent, the report said.

One endowment described its position as a long-term bet on bitcoin becoming a $20 trillion market within the next five to 15 years — a figure well above bitcoin's current market value.

Bitcoin Alongside Gold

For many allocators, bitcoin now sits next to gold as a hedge against currency debasement, a role the metal has long occupied as the traditional store-of-value asset. Several endowments built the two positions side by side. One institution files bitcoin directly in its “gold bucket,” and one sovereign wealth fund is partly funding its crypto allocation by selling gold and foreign exchange reserves.

“People are starting to use bitcoin as a fiat debasement trade along with gold,” one large endowment told Bitwise.

The so-called debasement trade — when investors buy an asset as a way to hedge against a currency losing value — was hot last year and helped bitcoin's run. The digital asset's momentum lost steam after October, however, as traders turned their attention to stocks related to artificial intelligence.

Another institution went further, suggesting that in a decade it might well abandon gold entirely in favor of bitcoin.

What Would Trigger an Exit

These investors say they would exit only if the underlying thesis broke, through a regulatory reversal or an industry-wide credibility crisis, for example. For observers, those two conditions amount to a stated checklist of the developments that would have to materialize before this cohort reconsiders. Volatility alone does not move them: some have already held through multiple 50%-plus drawdowns, including the one in 2022.

“If the thesis is right, given the S-curve of adoption, selling now would be selling too early,” one investment consultant said.

Bitwise said it expects a majority of institutions to hold crypto within five years. Still, the takeaway is clear: for the institutions already in, bitcoin is not a trade — it is a long-term holding.

Market Context

Bitcoin's price recently stood at $84,506 — unmoved over a 24-hour period but up nearly 7% over the past 30 days. The coin started a run in August and surged again last week. Some experts have said that the digital asset is now back in a bull market.

This article was originally published on Bitcoin Magazine under the title “Institutions Held Their Bitcoin Through Crash — and Some Bought More: Report” and was written by Mathew Di Salvo. Original: https://bitcoinmagazine.com/news/institutions-held-bitcoin-through-crash