Galaxy’s Novogratz Says Crypto’s Wild-Speculation Era Is Ending as Institutions Move In

At a New York finance forum Galaxy CEO Mike Novogratz argued the crypto market has entered a transition away from a speculation-first phase toward one increasingly shaped by institutions and real‑world use cases. He highlighted events that hollowed out aggressive short‑term players — notably the 2022 FTX collapse and a sharp Oct. 10 leverage unwind — as inflection points that removed outsized retail leverage and dealers. With that change in participant composition, Novogratz and other industry leaders now see tokenized real‑world instruments — securitized commodities, cash‑flowing assets and bank‑style services built on blockchain rails — as probable vectors of the next meaningful growth. Complementary market notes show U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs can move institutional liquidity in material bursts but also suffer episodic one‑day outflows, underlining that productized institutional demand can be powerful yet uneven. On‑chain supply metrics point to pockets of tightening that could support prices even with less retail reflex buying, while combined major dollar‑pegged stablecoins have retreated from peaks, subtly reducing the usual on‑exchange dollar buffer. Policymakers and regulators are also moving into view: Federal Reserve discussions about narrow central‑bank account access for certain nonbank payment firms, and persistent calls for clearer custody and token classification, will influence where and how institutions hold and settle crypto assets. Market structure is adapting — derivatives activity is migrating to new decentralized rails and dollar‑stablecoin lending marketplaces are scaling, pointing to deeper integration of tokenized dollar plumbing. At the same time, executives such as Tom Farley warn the market is undergoing consolidation after a valuation reset, which will redistribute liquidity and may concentrate custody, trading and product provision among larger, well-capitalized platforms. For traders who relied on quick narrative-driven gains, opportunities may shrink; for asset managers and institutions, tokenization and compliant custody could allow scalable exposure with clearer settlement processes. The shift implies lower headline volatility for many instruments but also a reconfiguration of liquidity profiles, counterparty sets and regulatory touchpoints — a maturation that raises both opportunity and governance questions for the industry.