Bitwise’s Matt Hougan says median top-20 crypto asset is down 15% this year

The typical large-cap crypto asset is having a rough year. According to Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan, the median return among the top 20 crypto assets sits at a 15% loss year-to-date.

The average return across that same group, meanwhile, is up 14%. Same assets, same year, two very different stories.

Hougan shared the figures on X on November 2, 2026. The gap between those two numbers says more about the current market than either figure does alone.

Two numbers, one market

Hougan’s observation turns on the difference between a median and a mean. The median is the middle value. Line up all 20 assets from worst to best performer, and the median tells you what the asset in the middle of the pack did. The mean is the simple average. Add up every return, divide by 20, and you get the mean.

When the median is negative and the mean is positive, the math tells you something specific. More of the top 20 are losing ground than gaining it, but the winners are winning by enough to offset everyone else.

The names doing the heavy lifting

Hougan pointed to two assets in particular as the outliers pulling the average higher: Hyperliquid (HYPE) and Zcash (ZEC).

Hougan did not publish a formal Bitwise report alongside the comments. Nor did he share a full ranked list of the top 20 assets and their individual returns. The figures appear to draw on internal or index data, framed as a quick snapshot of a year defined by winners and losers.

A year of dispersion

Hougan has been one of the more prominent institutional voices in crypto. His broader commentary has leaned on themes like institutional adoption, tokenization and the growth of stablecoins. He has also floated a long-term Bitcoin target of $1.6 million by 2036.

That long-range optimism sits alongside a much more sobering near-term snapshot. Believing in the structural story for the asset class does not mean every token in the top 20 is participating in it.

What this means for investors

The most immediate implication is about how performance gets reported. A headline saying the top 20 crypto assets are up 14% on average would be technically accurate. It would also badly misrepresent what a typical holder of a randomly chosen large-cap token experienced.

There is also a risk worth flagging. Averages driven by a couple of standout assets are fragile. If the outliers reverse, the mean can fall quickly, while the median may barely move because most assets were already down. Investors reading the 14% figure as a sign of broad market health would be drawing the wrong conclusion.

For investors, the practical takeaway from his snapshot is about scrutiny. Look past the average. Ask what the middle of the distribution is doing. And when a market’s gains are concentrated in two names, know whether you actually own them.