Insight: The Crypto Industry's "Speculative Era" May Be Ending, RWA Tokenization Will Bring More Sustainable Returns

NEW YORK – At the CNBC Digital Finance Forum on February 11, Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz said the crypto industry’s era of "high risk, high reward" speculation may be winding down as more low-risk-tolerant institutional investors enter, pushing the sector toward structural maturity. Retail crypto investors typically target multiples or even tens of times returns—not ~10% annualized gains—Novogratz noted. As institutional capital grows, the market’s return profile is likely to stabilize. He recalled the 2022 FTX collapse, which triggered a "collapse of trust": Bitcoin plummeted from a $69,000 high to a $15,700 low, a 78% drop. Regarding the October 11 leverage liquidation event, Novogratz said it "wiped out large numbers of retail investors and market makers" but had no clear single cause. "This time, there’s no clear ‘ringleader’—it’s a natural market clearing after narrative momentum faded." Looking ahead, Novogratz expects industry growth to shift from high-leverage speculation to real-world asset (RWA) tokenization and other practical use cases, delivering lower but more sustainable returns. Crypto infrastructure, he added, will support the global banking and financial services system—not just high-volatility asset trading. Also speaking at the forum, Chainlink co-founder Sergey Nazarov predicted the total value of tokenized RWAs could eventually surpass traditional crypto assets, driving a fundamental shift in the industry’s focus.