Bitwise Says Institutions Treat Ethereum, Solana As Venture Bets They Will Sell If Adoption Stalls

A Bitwise report found Bitcoin is the only cryptocurrency on which significant institutions agree, with Ethereum and Solana considered lesser conditional bets.

• Some institutions said that they would exit Ethereum and Solana in the next few years if growing network use fails to push up token prices. 
• None of the institutions interviewed by Bitwise cut their crypto allocations during the roughly 50% market drop between October 2025 and April 2026. 
• Ethereum fell 25.4% in the second quarter, compared with Bitcoin's 14.2% drop, according to a CoinGecko report. 

Ethereum (ETH) and Solana (SOL) are among the world's largest institutional holdings but according to a Bitwise report on Wednesday, institutions could sell their stakes in the next few years if the growing use of the networks fails to push token prices up.

Bitwise's Institutional Crypto Adoption report found that Bitcoin (BTC) is the crypto asset institutions agree on. Ethereum and Solana are treated differently. Institutions that own them treat them as early-stage tech bets, Bitwise said. The report draws from 15 interviews conducted in late March and April 2026 and said that Ethereum and Solana lack “a clear value-accrual thesis.” Institutions value both tokens for their real-world use, not as rivals to Bitcoin, Bitwise said.

Not Everyone’s Looking At Tokens

Some institutions skip both tokens entirely, the report added. One used decentralized finance (DeFi) apps heavily but saw no clear way for that activity to add value to the tokens, while another couldn't decide where they fit in its portfolio. 

These institutions hold smaller amounts for shorter periods with clear conditions for selling. If more people use the networks, token prices have to rise. “Something has to work. At some point, if this stuff doesn’t work, we’ll be out,” one institution holding crypto for a decade told Bitwise.

This is why the holders are watching closely as they track stablecoin volumes and DeFi activity, the report added. They also check whether fees reach Ethereum and Solana or slip to rivals. If use doesn't lift token values, Bitwise portfolios could shrink to Bitcoin alone. 

Volatile Crypto Prices Haven’t Scared Away Institutions, Yet

The crypto bear market this cycle, however, has not yet scared these institutions away. Crypto markets fell about 50% between October 2025 and April 2026, according to the Bitwise report. None of these institutions that were interviewed cut their allocation, while several actually bought more. 

Institutions with very different mandates and rules have landed on much the same approach to crypto, Bitwise Head of Research Ryan Rasmussen said in a statement on Wednesday. “It's Bitcoin as the anchor, often held alongside gold, while Ethereum and Solana are earning their place,” Rasmussen said, explaining that this is the shared approach.

Ethereum’s price traded around $2,600, down over 3% in the past 24 hours, while Solana’s price traded around $114, down over 1% in the past 24 hours. On Stocktwits, the retail sentiment around both ETH and SOL remained in the ‘bullish’ zone over the past day.

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