Institutional investors on Wall Street increased exposure to US spot Bitcoin ETFs during Q4 2025 even as Bitcoin suffered a steep drawdown of nearly 25% from its late-year peak. Bitcoin rallied to a new high above $126,000 in October, then reversed sharply amid a large deleveraging event and ended the year below $90,000, yet professional money managers largely treated the volatility as a chance to add positions rather than exit.

A new SEC no-action letter is paving the way to kill the traditional three-day stock trade settlement window by enabling tokenized securities on existing Wall Street infrastructure. The Depository Trust Company (DTC), part of DTCC, has received informal SEC approval to launch DTCC Tokenization Services for assets it already holds in custody, targeting a rollout in the second half of 2026.