Bitwise Acquires Chorus One: Three Expert Views on the Implications for Staking

**Acquisition: **Two weeks back, crypto asset manager @BitwiseInvest announced the acquisition of staking provider @ChorusOne, without disclosing the terms of the deal or its future plans. The announcement came just one week after Bitwise launched its first onchain vault, highlighting the firm’s accelerated buildout of its onchain infrastructure and push into onchain asset management.

• Pioneer: Founded in 2018, Chorus One is among the earliest staking providers and has built its reputation working closely with crypto-native protocols, foundations, and early adopters. The firm has since grown to manage roughly $2.2 billion in assets under stake, and has built a reputation as a research-driven firm, with notable contributions to areas like validator performance.

• **Addition: **For Bitwise, this deal marks its second staking provider acquisition. In November 2024, the firm acquired the Ethereum staking provider Attestant, which was subsequently rebranded as Bitwise Onchain Solutions. The division now oversees the firm's staking activities and broader onchain initiatives.

Why it matters: Last year saw a sharp acceleration in M&A activity across the digital asset industry. Disclosed deal value reached a record $22.5 billion, up 714% year-over-year and ≈ 270% from the previous peak in 2021. Now, that consolidation wave is rolling into 2026.

Focus on staking: Recently, the staking segment has become particularly active, with Bitwise’s announcement marking the third transaction in the sector over the past three months. In December, Galaxy acquired Alluvial Finance, the former development company behind Liquid Collective, a leading liquid staking protocol. And just last month, data firm The Tie announced the acquisition of staking provider Stakin.

• “Over time, it became clear that an inevitable phase of consolidation was coming to large parts of the crypto industry,” Chorus One co-founder and CEO Brian Fabian Crain told Bloomberg. “It was also clear that staking is best integrated in a larger platform.”

**Industry perspectives: **To better understand the forces driving activity in the staking sector and what to expect over the next 12 to 24 months, we spoke with three leading market participants:

1. The M&A perspective (@jp_grabs from** @areta_io) **on what drives the consolidation, who’s buying whom, and how the staking industry might look by 2027.

2. The staking provider perspective (@_evalawrence from** @Figment_io) **on why not all staking providers are created equal, and how the firm is navigating the ongoing consolidation.

3. The DeFi infrastructure perspective (@AElkrief from** @upshift_fi) **on how the acquisition enables Bitwise to drive its onchain strategy.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Staking is consolidating fast. Margin pressure, rising institutional standards, and commoditization are accelerating M&A activity in the sector.

• **Vertical integration is strategic. **Owning validator infrastructure provides not only base staking returns but access to transaction flow economics and deeper onchain capabilities.

• Staking is becoming a gateway. Providers are moving beyond vanilla staking into broader yield generation, especially stablecoin-based “savings” products.

This piece was initially published in the @block_stories Crypto Briefing, our weekly newsletter covering key events in the onchain economy.