Investment firm Galaxy reduced its year-end 2025 Bitcoin price target to $120,000 from $185,000, reflecting structural changes driven by institutional adoption. Head of research Alex Thorn described the shift as Bitcoin entering a "maturity era," with lower volatility as ETF and traditional finance capital reshape price behavior. The firm maintains a constructive long-term outlook despite the revised forecast.

Digital asset markets experienced significant volatility on October 31 as over $16 billion in Bitcoin and Ethereum options reached maturity. More than $1.2 billion in leveraged positions were liquidated within 24 hours, erasing approximately $200 billion from total crypto market capitalization. Analysts highlight contrasting outlooks for BTC and ETH amid the expiry event.

Standard Chartered Bank forecasts the tokenized real-world assets market will expand from $35 billion to approximately $2 trillion within three years, excluding stablecoins. The bank identifies Ethereum as the primary blockchain for institutional tokenization, citing its decade-long operational reliability. Geoffrey Kendrick, head of digital assets research at the bank, characterizes the growth trajectory as among the fastest in modern financial history.

Evernorth Holdings has accumulated more than $1 billion in XRP tokens, establishing itself as one of the largest institutional holders in the ecosystem. The digital asset treasury firm received approximately 338 million XRP from Ripple Labs and an additional 50 million from early investor Chris Larsen. Evernorth plans to list on Nasdaq via SPAC merger under the ticker XRPN by Q1 2026.

Ripple has launched Ripple Prime, an institutional brokerage platform, following its $1.25 billion acquisition of Hidden Road completed in October 2025. The platform integrates multi-asset trading, custody, and collateral services with Ripple's payment infrastructure and RLUSD stablecoin. Michael Arrington, founder of Arrington Capital, described the acquisition as Ripple's smartest move to date, citing synergies between Hidden Road's brokerage capabilities and Ripple's blockchain technology.