The Over-the-Counter (OTC) cryptocurrency market is expanding at a rapid rate, with major cryptocurrency exchanges everywhere launching their own OTC trading desks.
Just last week, the US-based exchange Bittrex launched an OTC trading desk. In November of last year, the highly popular Coinbase exchange launched OTC services, and shortly after in December, the crypto finance firm Circle announced they handled around $24 billion OTC trading in 2018.
Numerous other crypto exchanges have already launched OTC trading services, and now Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by daily trading volume, is the latest to join the movement with the launch of their first crypto OTC trading desk on January 23, 2019.
"#Binance has launched an crypto OTC desk providing additional liquidity to our exchange users" – @weizhouBinance https://t.co/qVBPaiKgyX
— Binance (@binance) January 22, 2019
Binance OTC
On January 23, Binance published a blog post highlighting the details of their OTC trading desk. Right off the bat, the exchange revealed that their OTC trading desk will be different from most, as it offers strictly crypto-to-crypto trading rather than fiat-to-crypto and vice versa.
Users will be able to trade large amounts of many cryptocurrencies listed on the exchange, with transactions being settled directly on their Binance accounts. The service offers traders an array of advantages that they won’t get on the traditional Binance trading platform.
For instance, users will be able to quickly trade large quantities of cryptocurrencies in a single transaction, all at one price. Therefore, traders can not only save time on the OTC platform but can also guarantee their orders are filled at a predetermined price.
Moreover, the order books will not be touched, which results in the complete privacy of the trader’s orders and prevents the market from fluctuating substantially.
Plus, the transition to trading on Binance OTC is seamless because trades are directly settled into the traders Binance account. There is no need to handle separate wallet addresses.
Advantages to Binance OTC Trading
In addition to the advantages mentioned above, Binance laid out 3 key reasons why Binance OTC is better than other OTC trading desks:
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We specialize in crypto-to-crypto trades, across more than 80 cryptocurrencies listed on Binance.
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We constantly endeavor to offer quick pricing for your OTC trades, with simple and quick settlement processes.
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We have a broad and diverse client base as an effective distribution platform.
While these are in fact advantages, the one key disadvantage Binance disregards is their lack of fiat-to-crypto option. Therefore, Binance’s OTC trading platform will not be onboarding institutional investors who have yet to get into crypto. Their service is strictly for users who hold a substantial amount of crypto already.
Requirements for Binance OTC Trading
Binance OTC trading only has 2 requirements for traders to begin trading.
First, the user must have a Binance level 2 (verified) account or above. This type of account requires users to submit valid know-your-customer (KYC) documents, including a picture of a government-issued photo ID. As well, these users must verify their email address.
The second requirement is to trade with an order worth at least 20 bitcoin (BTC). Therefore, like all other OTC trading desks, only serious cryptocurrency traders are allowed to participate.
Binance Is on Fire
In addition to the newly launched Binance OTC trading desk, the popular exchange has plans to launch even more innovative cryptocurrency services. Binance is building their very own public blockchain dubbed “Binance Chain,” which will purportedly host millions of coins and thousands of blockchains.
As well, the budding exchange will soon be launching a decentralized exchange (DEX) that runs on top of Binance Chain. This exchange will utilize Binance’s native cryptocurrency (BNB), and is adopting NEO’s Delegated Byzantine Fault Tolerance (dBFT) consensus algorithm.
Also, Binance has already accomplished a lot prior to these upcoming developments.
In late 2018, they launched subsidiary accounts to benefit institutional investors, they added Ripple (XRP) as a base pair for trading a variety of crypto assets, they feature a sophisticated blockchain academy for learning, a generous cryptocurrency charity, and so much more.
All in all, Binance is on fire and shows no signs of slowing down.
What will Binance come out with next? Let us know what you think in the comment section below.
