New research suggests that the increasing interest from Wall Street in late-stage cryptocurrency firms may alter the traditional boom-and-bust cycle of digital assets.
On Friday, crypto financial services company Matrixport reported that over $200 billion in crypto firms are gearing up for initial public offerings (IPOs), expected to generate between $30 billion and $45 billion in new capital.
Matrixport noted a shift in investor focus away from early-stage investments towards scalable, IPO-ready companies poised for public market entry.
According to Matrixport’s Friday X post, ongoing selling by Bitcoin (BTC) miners and early adopters has “almost neutralized ETF and treasury inflows, dampening volatility and reducing Bitcoin’s attraction to risk-seeking investors.” However, Wall Street has strong incentives to sustain the bull market, with up to $226 billion in crypto IPOs on the horizon that could bring in $30 – $45 billion in fresh capital.
This report surfaces as several prominent crypto firms are formulating IPO strategies, including crypto exchange Kraken, which allegedly secured $500 million in funding at a $15 billion valuation, as reported by unidentified sources in Fortune on Sept. 25.
This development followed closely on the heels of crypto custodian BitGo’s filing to list its common stock on the New York Stock Exchange under a US IPO submitted on Sept. 19. The Palo Alto-based firm disclosed approximately $90.3 billion in assets under custody, servicing a user base of 4,600 entities and 1.1 million customers.
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ETFs indicate “paper-backed altseason” for specific altcoins
Matrixport’s findings align with earlier views from industry analysts, predicting that the 2025 crypto market cycle will differ from previous years by not featuring an altcoin season, but rather a focus on select altcoins that enjoy institutional support or significant exchange-traded fund (ETF) applications.
Nonetheless, some analysts contend that on-chain metrics suggest the onset of an altcoin season.
“While many investors are narrowly fixated on Bitcoin, ETH is quietly excelling in the background,” as Bitcoin dominance declines toward “yearly lows,” according to Nic Puckrin, crypto analyst and co-founder of the educational platform The Coin Bureau.
“Historically, these signals have indicated a shift back to altcoins,” although he emphasized that the trend has been selective thus far.
“While this market cycle has been quite distinct from 2021 so far, we are starting to see indications of altcoin outperformance, albeit in a very selective manner.”
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Other analysts are highlighting the backlog of ETF applications waiting for approval as a potential trigger for the forthcoming altcoin season.
“Entering paper-backed altseason,” noted Ki Young Ju, founder and CEO of blockchain analytics firm CryptoQuant, in a Monday X post.
This occurs as the crypto sector anticipates the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) verdict on pending crypto ETF applications involving at least five tokens, submitted throughout October.
Canary Capital’s Litecoin (LTC) ETF had a deadline of Oct. 2, but the SEC has remained silent regarding the ETF submission. It remains unclear whether this lack of response is due to the ongoing US government shutdown or new generic listing criteria that could make the 19b-4 deadline inconsequential.
Several Solana (SOL) ETF applications from Grayscale, VanEck, 21Shares, and Bitwise are expected to receive a decision by Oct. 10.
Later in the month, XRP (XRP) ETF applications from Grayscale, WisdomTree, Bitwise, and CoinShares are awaiting feedback between Oct. 19 and 24.
Finally, Grayscale’s Dogecoin (DOGE) ETF and Cardano (ADA) ETF are anticipated to receive final decisions by the end of October.
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