Crypto OTC trading volume has grown significantly in recent months, mainly driven by the results of the US election

Major cryptocurrency trading firms say OTC volumes have grown rapidly over the past few months, with the election results being a key driver. “OTC is booming right now, prices are up, and volumes are up significantly,” said Tim Ogilvie, head of institutions at Kraken. Ogilvie noted that Kraken’s OTC volumes are up 220% year-over-year, and other cryptocurrency trading firms have seen similar growth. Jake Ostrovskis, an OTC trader at market-making firm Wintermute, said the market had been quiet in the middle of the year until prices rose before the election, and market participants wanted to prepare for the results. He noted that Wintermute has had years-long conversations with some clients who see the election as a green light to finally start trading. Embert Lin, a trader at market-making firm GSR, said the firm has also seen a significant increase in trading volume since the election, "As BTC/ETH and altcoins rise, projects and investors are becoming more active in managing money and risk at these levels, and institutions and others are looking for new opportunities and ways to gain exposure outside of BTC and ETH." BitGo's Go Network head Brett Reeves said the U.S. election was a big driver of recent volume growth, with two-thirds of the firm's volume coming from the past three months due to the election results. In addition, OTC clients are also beginning to get further involved in more cryptocurrencies, as long as they have enough liquidity. "There may be a general feeling on OTC that people are willing to take more risk. We see this in two ways. One is buying directly, but we also see people going out of the risk curve. They start with Bitcoin, then move to Ethereum, then to SOL, and maybe they start to move to some altcoins," Ogilvie added, adding that SOL has seen a large volume in recent months. (The Block)