OTC Trading

OTC (over-the-counter) trading is buying or selling crypto directly between two parties, off the public exchange order books, usually through a specialized desk that quotes a single price for the whole trade. It exists mainly for large orders that would cause significant slippage and signal the trader's intentions if executed on an open exchange.

For example, a fund wanting to buy $20 million of BTC could move the market visibly by sweeping exchange order books. Instead, it asks an OTC desk for a quote; the desk offers a fixed all-in price, sources the coins from its own inventory and network, and settles the trade privately. The fund gets one clean fill, and the public market never sees the order.

OTC desks serve institutions, miners selling production, corporates, and high-net-worth individuals, and they typically enforce KYC and minimum trade sizes. Pricing is usually the prevailing market price plus a small spread that replaces exchange fees and slippage. A common misconception is that OTC trading is unregulated or shady by nature; major OTC desks are licensed, compliance-heavy businesses, and the appeal is execution quality and privacy of intent, not avoiding oversight.