A new industry survey has revealed significant disparities in crypto over-the-counter (OTC) trading volume estimates. Some liquidity providers suggest daily figures exceeding $100 billion, while the average estimate stands at approximately $39 billion.
Crypto OTC Market Averaging $39B Daily, Survey Finds
The findings come from an in-depth survey conducted by Finery Markets, which targeted key industry stakeholders, including liquidity providers, market makers, and prime brokers, to assess the institutional crypto trading landscape for 2025.
"The crypto market is already characterized by extreme fragmentation, with over 700 trading venues globally, as reported by CoinMarketCap. This proliferation of trading venues has several challenges, such as connectivity issues, where buyers and sellers often transact on different platforms, hindering efficient matching," noted the report, explaining why estimates varied by more than tenfold among respondents.
Despite the measurement challenges, the sector appears poised for continued growth. 18% of respondents project year-over-year growth exceeding 100% in 2025, while 45.6% expect more moderate growth between 10% and 60%.
The 2024 results are certainly fueling positive forecasts, as OTC trading volume has increased by over 100% in recent months, while transactions involving stablecoins have surged by nearly 150%. The newest survey also revealed that 50% of industry experts reported OTC cryptocurrency trading volumes experienced year-over-year growth exceeding 100% in 2024.
“The institutional surge came as no surprise to us, as we designed our trading infrastructure from the start to meet the needs of institutional players, anticipating wider adoption,” Konstantin Shulga, Finery Markets CEO and Co-Founder, commented for Finance Magnates.
AI Integration Accelerating Across Trading Operations
Over 70% of firms surveyed have already adopted AI-powered technologies in their operations, with 54.6% planning to increase their AI spending by 5-30% in 2025.
Notably, 70% of respondents identified back-office functions such as settlements, reporting, and repetitive tasks as AI's most promising use cases, while 30% highlighted front-office applications, including market data analysis and cross-asset trading.
“AI has enabled more sophisticated cross asset trading strategies in the crypto space,” Finery Markets explained. “Execution-focused AI-driven systems can execute complex arbitrage strategies across multiple exchanges and asset classes with minimal latency, including market-making strategies to provide liquidity across various crypto assets and exchanges.”
Institutional Adoption Gaining Momentum
The survey indicates that institutional involvement in cryptocurrency has moved beyond exploratory interest, with 42% of institutional players now incorporating digital assets into their daily operations.
Respondentsidentified the Trump administration's expected pro-crypto stance and potential regulatory clarity in the U.S. as the most significant factors likely to drive further institutional adoption.
“Crypto ETFs and US Elections have been identified as the two most influential factors driving institutional crypto adoption, with 70% of participants selecting each. Interestingly, topics such as SEC charges against market makers, tokenized money market funds, and Bitcoin halving were not chosen as influential events,” the report added.
Geographically, Europe leads demand for institutional crypto spot OTC trading at 38.5%, followed by North America, Asia, and the Middle East, each at 15.4%.
4/ ???? Regulation & Market Structure - Leading jurisdictions like Singapore, Switzerland, and the UAE are paving the way with crypto-friendly regulations. Institutions are adapting to navigate compliance and operational risks. Find out how.
— Finery Markets (@finerymarkets) February 25, 2025
In a sign of the industry's increasing embrace of regulation, 92% of institutions plan to secure additional crypto licenses in 2025. Survey participants identified Singapore, Switzerland, and the United Arab Emirates as the most crypto-friendly jurisdictions for institutional trading operations.
Hedging Strategies and Market Infrastructure
Options and futures continue to dominate hedging strategies in the OTC crypto market, with 66.7% of respondents favoring option-based approaches. However, 36.8% identified low liquidity as a significant barrier to broader institutional adoption of crypto derivatives.
The survey also revealed emerging interest in innovative derivative products, including instruments that would allow miners and stakers to sell their rewards at volume-weighted average prices (VWAP) with settlement occurring after the actual rewards are received.
As the market continues to evolve, respondents highlighted several key trends shaping the future of OTC crypto trading, including the increasing importance of Central Clearing Houses (CCHS) in mitigating counterparty risks and the potential integration of decentralized solutions into OTC trading as regulatory clarity improves.
Will Bitcoin Go Up Due to Higher Institutional Adoption?
Institutional adoption has undoubtedly driven Bitcoin's price surge in 2024, with the cryptocurrency gaining 120% over the year. But what lies ahead in 2025? As of Wednesday, February 26, 2025, Bitcoin is experiencing its third consecutive day of losses, testing the $85,400 level—the lowest in three months and coinciding with the 200-day EMA, a key indicator that has separated the bull and bear markets for the past six months.
According to my technical analysis, the $85,000 zone, along with the mentioned moving average, could serve as a critical rebound level for BTC, a view also shared by Markus Thielen from 10x Research.
Bitcoin’s Next Big Buy Zone Revealed!Bitcoin, MicroStrategy, on-chain data, liquidations, technicals, and more...????1-11) Yesterday, Bitcoin dropped sharply, breaking below the critical $95,000 support level. We had previously warned about this key threshold in our December… pic.twitter.com/i6VNEyIKW5
— 10x Research (@10x_Research) February 25, 2025
Currently, BTC is forming a bullish pin bar, a potential buy signal. A breakout above the $90,000–$92,000 resistance zone would confirm that bulls were waiting to accumulate. However, if the $85,000 level and the 200 EMA fail to hold, it could indicate that bears are aiming for further distribution, potentially driving the price toward $70,000.
Will Bitcoin go up? It all depends on how the price reacts at this key support level.
This article was written by Damian Chmiel at www.financemagnates.com.
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