Bitwise Draws $1.8B in Net Inflows in H1 2026 Despite Crypto Bear Market

Bitwise Asset Management attracted more than $1.8 billion in net new money in the first half of 2026, CEO Hunter Horsley said Sunday, even as crypto prices slid for most of the period. Fundstrat Global Advisors cofounder and head of research Tom Lee called the performance "outstanding," praising Bitwise for expanding through the downturn. Lee has remained bullish during the slump and said earlier this week he ranked 17 crypto-related stocks. Bitcoin (BTC) was trading around $77,403 on Sunday, little changed. Horsley said four Bitwise "franchises" each brought in more than $100 million: ETFs and ETPs (exchange-traded funds and products), private strategies, staking, and vaults. He emphasized that inflows were driven less by price exposure and more by income: three of the four categories offer yield. Bitwise's vault product, launched in January with onchain lender Morpho, targets roughly 6% annually on stablecoins. Its tokenized Crypto Carry Fund had $259 million by late May and delivered a 4% yield. The carry strategy buys crypto, sells futures against it, and captures the spread. Staking saw the quickest uptake. Bitwise's Solana staking fund crossed $500 million just 18 days after listing last November. Competitors are now moving quickly to package Ethereum yield inside ETPs. The one major Bitwise product that does not pay yield, the Bitwise 10 Crypto Index ETF (BITW), contracted over the same span. The fund holds a basket of large tokens, with bitcoin and ether making up about 91%. Regulatory filings show net assets falling from $1.03 billion on December 31 to $678 million on March 31, a 34% decline in three months. The drop reflected both a 24% fall in the share price and investor redemptions of 2.25 million shares, about 13% of the fund. Fees did not appear to be the main driver. Bitwise had recently reduced BITW's expense ratio from 2.50% to 0.75% when the fund began trading on NYSE Arca in December. The same fund returned 94.8% in 2024. Bitwise also trimmed staff this summer. A workforce reduction on August 12 cut headcount from roughly 180 to 155. Net inflows capture deposits minus withdrawals, not market gains. The picture at Bitwise in early 2026 was clear: investors allocated heavily to yield-focused products and pulled back from pure price exposure.