Wall Street Races to Sell Risky ETFs as Crypto Crash Hits Retail

Oct. 17, 2025, 1:04 PM UTC

When crypto prices were running hot, Wall Street pounced. Issuers rushed to file for a dizzying number of ETFs tied to altcoins — the volatile, thinly traded tokens that live on the speculative edge of digital finance. Then came the past week’s crash.

Billions of dollars in market value have vanished as altcoins plunged, exposing just how illiquid and unstable many of these assets remain. Some tokens are down 70% over the past week, with bids disappearing as liquidity thinned. It’s a brutal reminder that large swaths of the digital asset world still resemble a financial wild west — even ...

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