The United States-based cryptocurrency exchange Bittrex has just launched an over-the-counter (OTC) trading desk which will see cryptocurrency traders deal directly, rather than through an exchange.
The trading desk will support just under 200 cryptocurrencies, and will guarantee pricing for trades over $250,000, Coindesk reports.
The OTC platform went live yesterday evening at 6pm UTC.
Bittrex is not the first company to provide such a trading desk. Late last year, Coinbase quietly launched its over-the-counter trading desk to facilitate large trades between institutional investors.
In an OTC trade there is no third-party involved; trades take place directly between the investor and the seller. So in this case, Bittrex will mediate the trades between its clients and take a fee for the service.
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Indeed, the creation of such platforms might sound like mainstream adoption and the whole lot, but in reality, OTC desks are well-established financial trading tools used to maintain high-value trading volumes, and reduce the risk incurred by the exchange.
As such, it’s unlikely that any hobbyist cryptocurrency investor will ever use the services of an OTC trading desk.
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