DWF Labs Says Crypto Shifts to Balance Sheets After Reset
- Over $19B in liquidations cleared excess leverage, forcing a broad systemic market reset.
- Stablecoins evolved into yield-bearing balance-sheet tools as demand for leverage declined.
- RWAs and perpetual DEX markets emerged as key signals of liquidity and trust under stress.
More than $19 billion in leveraged crypto positions were liquidated across global markets in October 2025, leading to a broad systemic reset. This came during increased volatility, affecting both centralized and decentralized venues worldwide. According to DWF Labs, this cleared excess leverage, tightened risk limits, and redirected capital toward balance-sheet management, yield structure, and durable financial infrastructure.
Liquidity Becomes a Test of Market Structure
Throughout 2025, crypto markets have faced repeated stress events tied to volatility and forced deleveraging. Notably, on-chain liquidity continued operating during these episodes. In contrast, several centralized trading platforms experienced outages and cascading failures, according to DWF Labs.
This divergence reshaped how market participants assess credibility. Liquidity depth under stress now acts as a structural signal rather than a marketing metric. Projects with durable market design retained participation, while incentive-driven liquidity disappeared once volatility spiked.
However, liquidity provision itself no longer offers differentiation. Market-making strategies became widely accessible, compressing margins across venues. According to DWF Labs Managing Partner Andrei Grachev, competition eliminated advantages based solely on spreads.
As a result, outcomes replaced raw liquidity as the differentiator. Market participants prioritized counterparties, distribution, and credible demand. Artificial volume spikes triggered sell pressure from systematic traders, reinforcing discipline.
This environment forced capital to seek efficiency rather than leverage. That shift became clearer as stablecoins evolved beyond simple payment tools.
Stablecoins Turn Into Balance-Sheet Instruments
Regulatory clarity in the United States accelerated stablecoin adoption in 2025. Total stablecoin supply expanded more than 50% year-over-year, according to DWF Labs. Yield-bearing stablecoins surpassed $20 billion in circulation, showing a clear change in usage.
Institutions increasingly use stablecoins to manage idle capital rather than move funds. Yield-bearing structures allowed capital to remain liquid while generating returns. Stablecoins started acting like programmable versions of money on a balance sheet.
This shift was supported by synthetic dollar models. For example, Falcon Finance’s USDf lets users deposit assets that don’t earn yield and receive a synthetic dollar instead. Users can then earn returns through a separate yield token with clear risk limits.
Most users still cared more about safety than high returns. DWF Labs noted that clear redemption options, transparent systems, and well-tested risk models drove adoption. As a result, stablecoin platforms increasingly competed on how strong and reliable their balance sheets were.
Related: Crypto Leverage Falls as Coinbase Reports Strong Market Reset
RWAs and Perpetuals Anchor Market Credibility
On-chain real-world assets expanded throughout 2025. Tokenized RWA value grew from roughly $4 billion to $18 billion. Growth focused on U.S. Treasuries, credit products, and investment funds.
Importantly, RWAs are integrated directly into lending and liquidity systems. These assets shifted from passive yield instruments into active collateral. Falcon Finance Chief RWA Officer Artem Tolkachev described the strategy as accepting diverse collateral to unlock liquidity and yield.
Private credit tokenization gained strength for similar reasons. Tokenized debt combined yield with credible collateral while enabling faster redemption. This structure allowed holders to maintain exposure while regaining liquidity.
At the same time, derivatives markets reinforced credibility signals. During 2025, the DEX-to-CEX derivatives volume ratio quadrupled year-over-year. Decentralized perpetual venues narrowed execution gaps while centralized infrastructure faced repeated stress.
According to Andrei Grachev, perpetual markets consistently price higher than spot markets. Perps compressed sentiment into observable signals such as funding rates, open interest, and liquidation behavior. Institutions began using these markets more often to judge how trustworthy systems were.
New dark-pool perpetual DEXs emerged to protect large traders’ privacy. These platforms hide order details while still proving trades happened on-chain. DWF Labs said it supports this kind of infrastructure through its DeFi work.
Together, real-world assets and perpetual markets helped tie crypto activity to clear, trackable balance-sheet structures. The forced unwind reduced leverage, tightened risk controls, and altered capital timing.
Combined with the Federal Reserve’s September rate cut and clearer U.S. regulatory direction, institutions deployed capital more deliberately. Many aligned exposure with annual risk frameworks rather than speculative cycles.
Builders faced similar discipline. Despite large token raises in 2025, post-launch performance differed. Projects with sustained utility retained users, while incentive-driven platforms lost traction once emissions declined.
As 2025 draws to a close, crypto markets show lower leverage and stricter capital allocation. Liquidity durability, yield-bearing balance sheets, RWAs, and perpetual markets increasingly define structure. According to DWF Labs, these mechanics show a market responding to real demand rather than liquidation-driven leverage cycles.
