The beginning of 2026 was marked by tectonic changes in the structure of the cryptocurrency market. While retail investors are watching memecoins fluctuate, institutional players and large net worth holders (HNWI) are showing record activity in the over-the-counter (OTC) sector. According to the latest data, the trading volume of Binance’s OTC platform in the first two months of 2026 has already reached 25% of the total volume of the entire year of 2025.
OTC phenomenon: growth under pressure
The acceleration of OTC trade is taking place against a complex macroeconomic background. February 2026 was risk-off due to geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and corrections in the US technology sector due to concerns over artificial intelligence.
Interestingly, during this period, the fluctuations of traditional defensive assets, such as gold, exceeded the fluctuations of Bitcoin. This is a rare reversal of historical norms that underscores the depth of macroeconomic uncertainty. Under these conditions, institutional investors prefer OTC desks for the ability to conduct large transactions confidentially without significant impact on the market price.
Bitcoin: searching for the “floor” and strategic stacking
Despite the early February correction, when BTC tested the $60,000 level, experts note the formation of strong structural support in the $55,000 – $69,000 range.
Key OTC Desk Considerations: Tenfold increase in interest in BTC. Bitcoin’s share of total OTC trading volume increased from 4.91% in January to 45.81% in February.
Capital inflow: The volume of fiat and stablecoin cryptocurrency conversions more than doubled in one month, reaching almost 49% of all transactions.
Institutional optimism: The massive inflow of funds in spot BTC positions around the $60,000 level indicates that major players are viewing current prices as a profitable strategic entry point.
Technological efficiency and liquidity
The modern crypto market requires not only liquidity, but also high speed of execution of complex transactions. An important factor behind the growth was increased activity on the Ethereum network, where the number of daily transactions reached an all-time high following the Fusaka update and the growth of the Real Asset Tokenization (RWA) sector.
A demonstrative example was the conversion of Wrapped Beacon ETH (WBETH) to ETH in the amount of more than $105 million. If the standard withdrawal process would take 9 days, the OTC service completed the transaction in just 2 hours. At the same time, the strike price was 75% better than the expected slippage in the open market.
Conclusions for the market
The current dynamics show the maturity of the sector. Institutional demand is moving from simple speculation to in-depth portfolio management that requires professional tools (eg RFQ and IOI).
The fact that BTC is holding in the $71,000 – $78,000 range amid global turmoil, as well as aggressive accumulation in OTC channels, may indicate the end of the correction phase and the start of a new phase of growth.
In 2026, the main advantage of large investors becomes not just the possession of assets, but access to deep liquidity pools and flexible settlement mechanisms.
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