Bitwise Asset Management, the firm behind $15 billion in client assets and the BITB spot Bitcoin ETF, announced on February 24, 2026 that it has acquired Chorus One, one of the largest institutional staking infrastructure providers in crypto. The deal brings $2.2 billion in staked assets and support for more than 30 proof-of-stake networks under the Bitwise umbrella, as of the announcement date.
The acquisition price was not disclosed. But the strategic logic is hard to miss: Bitwise is assembling the infrastructure backbone it needs before staked ETFs become the next major product category in US capital markets.
Chorus One Built the Validator Layer That Institutions Trust
Founded in 2018, Chorus One has spent seven years doing the unglamorous work of running validator nodes across dozens of blockchains. The company operates infrastructure on Solana, Ethereum, Avalanche, Sui, Aptos, NEAR, Tezos, TON, Hyperliquid, and Monad, among others. More than 50,000 delegators stake to its public nodes.
Its client list reads like a who's who of institutional crypto: family offices, custodians, exchanges, and decentralized protocols. Ledger chose Chorus One to power its staking infrastructure. Copper, the digital asset custody firm, partnered with Chorus One for enterprise-ready staking on TON. The Avalanche Foundation tapped the team to expand validator coverage across Africa.
Brian Crain, Chorus One's CEO and co-founder, will transition into an advisory role at Bitwise. Sixty of the company's engineers and researchers will join Bitwise Onchain Solutions, the staking division that already manages several billion dollars in staked crypto for institutional clients.
"Investors deserve secure, professional access to the entire Proof-of-Stake landscape," Crain said in the official announcement.
BSOL Was the Proof of Concept, and It Worked
The acquisition does not exist in a vacuum. Bitwise launched the Bitwise Solana Staking ETF (BSOL) on the NYSE in October 2025, the first US spot Solana ETF with 100% staking exposure. By November 2025, BSOL had crossed $500 million in assets under management. As of mid-February 2026, net assets stood at roughly $664 million.
BSOL proved two things. First, US investors want staking yield inside an ETF wrapper. Second, the SEC under Chair Paul Atkins is willing to let it happen. The product's growth trajectory, from zero to over half a billion dollars in weeks, gave Bitwise the data point it needed to justify a much larger bet on staking infrastructure.
Hunter Horsley, Bitwise's CEO, framed the acquisition in exactly those terms: "For our clients who hold spot crypto assets, staking represents a potential growth area."
That is corporate-speak for "we are going to build staked versions of everything."
The Staked ETH ETF Race Is Already Underway
The bigger prize sits on the SEC's docket. BlackRock filed for the iShares Staked Ethereum Trust (ETHB) in late 2025, proposing to stake 70% to 95% of fund holdings and distribute yield to shareholders quarterly. The filing disclosed a 0.25% annual sponsor fee (waived to 0.12% on the first $2.5 billion for 12 months) plus an 18% cut of gross staking rewards split between BlackRock and Coinbase Prime as execution agent.
VanEck and other issuers have submitted similar filings. Early 2026 network benchmarks cited in SEC documents estimate annualized Ethereum staking yields around 3%, translating to roughly 2.4% to 2.5% net after fees. That may not sound dramatic, but for an asset class that currently offers zero yield inside existing spot ETH ETFs, it changes the math for every institutional allocator running a portfolio model.
Bitwise has not yet filed for its own staked Ethereum product, but the Chorus One acquisition gives it the operational capacity to do so across not just Ethereum, but any proof-of-stake chain where institutional demand materializes. Solana, Avalanche, Sui, NEAR, and Cosmos are all candidates.
What This Means for Stakers and Crypto Card Holders
The institutional staking wave has direct implications for retail crypto users. As more capital flows into validator networks through ETF wrappers, staking rewards for individual delegators could compress. Higher total stake means each validator's share of block rewards shrinks, a dynamic already visible on Ethereum where the effective yield has drifted from 5% to around 3% as the staked supply grew.
For holders of crypto cards that offer staking rewards, the calculus gets more nuanced. Cards from providers like Crypto.com, ether.fi, and xPlace tie perks to staked token balances. If institutional ETF flows push native staking yields lower, card issuers may need to subsidize reward rates from other revenue streams, or accept that their staking-tier benefits become less competitive over time.
On the positive side, institutional validation of staking as a legitimate yield strategy removes the regulatory overhang that has kept some exchanges and card issuers from offering staking products in the US. If the SEC blesses staked ETFs from BlackRock and Bitwise, the argument that staking constitutes an unregistered security offering loses most of its teeth.
The Asset Management Land Grab for Crypto Infrastructure
Bitwise is not alone in buying infrastructure. The broader trend across crypto asset management in 2025 and 2026 has been vertical integration: ETF issuers acquiring the technology layers they previously outsourced.
Bitwise itself has grown from a niche crypto index fund shop to a nearly 200-person firm with $15 billion in AUM and more than 40 investment products. The Chorus One deal adds 60 engineers overnight, giving Bitwise in-house expertise across every major proof-of-stake network rather than relying on third-party staking providers.
The competitive pressure is real. BlackRock partnered with Coinbase for custody and staking execution. Fidelity has built its own staking infrastructure internally. Grayscale has been converting its trust products into ETFs while adding staking features. For mid-size players like Bitwise, owning the validator layer is the difference between being a product distributor and being a full-stack platform.
Hong Kim, Bitwise's CTO, said the integration will "enhance our capabilities to serve clients and our commitment to industry-leading infrastructure." Translation: they plan to run their own validators for every ETF they launch, cutting out middlemen and keeping more of the staking spread.
FAQ
How much did Bitwise pay for Chorus One? The acquisition price was not disclosed. Given Chorus One's $2.2 billion in staked assets and seven years of institutional relationships, industry estimates place the deal in the hundreds of millions, though no official figure has been confirmed.
What is Chorus One? Chorus One is an institutional staking infrastructure provider founded in 2018. It operates validator nodes across more than 30 proof-of-stake blockchains, including Ethereum, Solana, Avalanche, and Cosmos. Over 50,000 delegators stake through its public nodes.
Will this affect BSOL's staking yield? Not directly. BSOL stakes 100% of its Solana holdings and earns network rewards based on Solana's protocol parameters. The Chorus One acquisition gives Bitwise more operational control over how those validators are run, which could improve uptime and reduce slashing risk, but the base yield is determined by the Solana network.
When will Bitwise launch a staked Ethereum ETF? Bitwise has not announced a staked Ethereum ETF filing. However, the Chorus One acquisition gives it the infrastructure to support one. BlackRock's ETHB filing is the furthest along in the SEC pipeline and could set the precedent for competitors.
Does institutional staking reduce rewards for retail stakers? Yes, in relative terms. As total staked supply increases on any proof-of-stake network, the per-validator reward decreases. More ETF capital flowing into Ethereum validators, for example, dilutes the annualized yield for all stakers.
Overview
Bitwise acquired Chorus One on February 24, 2026, absorbing $2.2 billion in staked assets, 60 engineers, and validator infrastructure across 30+ proof-of-stake networks. The deal positions Bitwise to launch staked ETF products beyond its existing BSOL Solana fund, which has already gathered over $600 million in AUM. With BlackRock, VanEck, and others racing to bring staked Ethereum ETFs to market, Bitwise is betting that owning the validator layer will be a decisive competitive advantage.
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