12 of the 80 exchanges we track accept OTC Desk deposits, ranked by CWR Score. The list below is checked against your country.
Every exchange below lists OTC Desk among its deposit methods in the CryptoWinRate database. The list checks each venue's restricted-country list against your location. Change it if we got it wrong.
Exchanges with a CWR Score of 7 or higher and no security incident in the last 12 months.Every exchange that accepts OTC Desk.Exchanges licensed under the EU’s MiCA rules.
Pick a different country above, or browse all reviews.
Also accepting OTC Desk, but restricted in your country: Kraken, Bybit, Binance, BloFin, WhiteBIT, OKX, Coinbase, Crypto.com, Bitstamp, Gate, Gemini, Bitfinex,
OTC stands for over the counter. An OTC desk is a service that arranges large crypto trades directly between two parties, outside the public order book. Instead of matching your order against the offers everyone can see, the desk quotes you one price for the whole order and fills it privately. These desks are a niche payment route, built mainly for institutions, corporate treasuries, family offices and wealthy individuals.
To use one, you ask for a price on a specific trade. The desk answers with a quote, and if you accept, the crypto is delivered to your wallet or account. Your position and strategy stay off the public book, so other traders can’t see your order or trade ahead of it. The limits are real: most desks set a high minimum, and you must pass identity and anti money laundering checks first. Once a trade settles, it is final.
The list at the top of this page shows which exchanges run an OTC desk.
The OTC model comes from traditional finance, where bonds, foreign exchange and private equity have traded off exchange for decades. Crypto inherited the concept and the name as the market grew and demand for large trades went beyond what public exchanges could handle efficiently. As institutions moved into digital assets, both stand alone desks and desks attached to exchanges spread.
An OTC desk is a category of service rather than one branded provider. Many independent operators run their own desks, including crypto brokerages, custody firms and trading houses, each with its own rules and pricing. One recent example: BitGo’s OTC desk launched publicly in February 2025 after running in stealth mode since early 2024.
An OTC desk is a crypto service by nature. Its whole purpose is to buy and sell large blocks of digital assets, and operators usually hold or source crypto inventory directly, then deliver it to your wallet or account when a trade settles.
Some desks do more than spot trades. Depending on the operator you may find derivatives, lending and yield products, and some run inside a regulated qualified custody framework. A number also handle swaps, exchanging one coin for another without converting to fiat first.
Because OTC desks are a category and not a single provider, policies differ. What one desk allows, another may limit or decline, so check the terms of the desk you plan to use.
These steps work at any exchange that offers an OTC desk.
With a funded account the trade settles as soon as you accept the quote, and the coins are credited straight away. When the desk delivers on chain, settlement can be near instant. Using a bank wire or other local payment rails to fund the account takes longer, often the next working day.
Weekends, bank cut off times and first time identity checks can all add delay before your money reaches the desk. Some staffed desks are open around the clock, others only on weekdays during business hours, so the desk’s hours affect how fast you can trade.
Desks normally charge no separate commission. The price you are quoted is all inclusive: the desk’s margin is built into it, and that is what you pay. One operator, for example, states no trading fees on its OTC desk.
This makes the quote easy to check. Look at the market price at the same moment and work out the difference. On a large order, compare the quote with what the same order would cost on the order book after slippage, not with the best price at the top of the book.
Paying in a currency the desk does not hold can add a conversion cost, and your bank may charge for the wire that funds the account. Ask the desk which currencies it settles in before you send money.
Exchanges use the label OTC for two different services, and the list above includes both.
A staffed desk gives you a person. You deal with a trader or an account manager, usually over a private chat, and the desk can handle unusual sizes, less common coins and settlement on agreed terms. Minimums at staffed desks usually sit somewhere between 30,000 and 200,000 US dollars per trade.
An electronic service, often called request for quote or RFQ, is software. You enter the trade, receive a price and click to accept. It starts at far smaller sizes, around 1,000 dollars at some exchanges, but you get no negotiation and no custom settlement.
Check which of the two an exchange offers before you rely on it. The name alone will not tell you.
Access is narrower than for normal trading. Staffed desks are mostly aimed at institutions, companies and wealthy individuals, and several accept only institutional clients. A few are open to any verified customer who meets the minimum.
Electronic quote services tend to be open to more people, though some exchanges limit them to accounts above a certain balance or to selected clients.
Country matters too. An exchange can offer its desk in one region and not in another, and some exclude specific countries by name. The desk’s own eligibility page has the final word.
Settlement is the exchange of your money for the coins. With a funded account it is immediate: the desk debits your balance and credits the crypto as soon as you accept the quote.
Some staffed desks also offer deferred settlement, where the price is fixed first and the money follows later, from the same day up to two business days. That is an arrangement the desk makes with a client it has already vetted, not a default.
Opening hours differ. Some desks are staffed around the clock, others only on weekdays during local business hours. Electronic quotes are available whenever the exchange is.
Start with eligibility and cost: whether the desk accepts your type of account, what the minimum is, and the total price shown before you confirm. Compare that quote against the market so you know the margin you are paying.
Then check the practical details. How long does verification take, which coins and currencies can you trade, and can you withdraw back out, including fiat once a trade settles? Some desks support that and some do not.
Finally look at the exchange itself, since an OTC trade leaves you holding coins there until you withdraw them, so its security record matters as much as the quote. The list at the top of this page shows which exchanges offer a desk.
Yes. The name on your bank account must match the name on your registered account with the desk. Desks run anti money laundering checks, so a payment from someone else won’t be accepted.
Most desks set a minimum trade size. A common threshold is around 50,000 US dollars, though some smaller operators quote from about 5,000 dollars. Exceptions are sometimes discussed case by case.
The desk’s main job is to send crypto to you, and some also let you withdraw fiat once a trade settles. Policies vary by operator, so confirm what yours supports before you rely on it.
The trade won’t settle. A payment from a name that doesn’t match your account will be held or returned, since it fails the desk’s compliance checks. Sort out the mismatch with the desk before resending.
Yes. Desks require full identity and anti money laundering verification before they quote, and companies must pass business checks as well.
You can place the order on the public market instead, accepting that a large order moves the price as it fills. For big sizes it’s worth checking the list above for a venue that does run a desk.
In the EU, Bybit serves customers through a separate platform, Bybit EU, which is licensed under MiCA.
Not in ? · Affiliate-disclosed
In the EU, OKX serves customers through OKX EU, which is run by a separate company licensed under MiCA and offers different products.
Not in ? · Affiliate-disclosed
