Galaxy CEO Mike Novogratz believes the period of very large crypto gains may be nearing its end.
He said the market currently attracts more cautious institutional investors, while many retail traders who chased high returns have stepped back.
Speaking at the CNBC Digital Finance Forum in New York, Novogratz compared the two groups of investors.
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He said, “Retail people don’t get into crypto because they want to make 11% annualized. They get in because they want to make 30 to one, eight to one, 10 to one“.
He also pointed to past events that weakened confidence. Novogratz recalled the 2022 collapse of FTX, which pushed the market into a prolonged downturn. Bitcoin
Novogratz mentioned another shakeout on October 10, 2025, which he described as a leverage reset that removed many retail traders and market makers. He noted that sales increased even though no major news seemed to be the cause.
He added that crypto depends on stories that build interest and confidence. These stories take time to form, and once many participants leave, the market does not recover immediately.
Novogratz said, “When you wipe out a lot of those people, Humpty Dumpty doesn’t get put back together right away”.
Sergey Nazarov, a co-founder of Chainlink
