Over the counter (OTC) trades are when two parties trade directly with each other. OTC trades can be helpful when trading large amounts of a cryptocurrency as trading over the counter will not incur slippage.

How it works

A prospective crypto trader will likely need to go to a trading desk if they want to trade OTC. Trading desks are ran by most major exchanges, for example FTX.[1] The trader can ask for a quote and choose to directly purchase the entire amount of an asset they would like, rather than having to TWAP or incur slippage on an exchange.

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