Major cryptocurrency trading firms have reported a rapid increase in OTC trading volumes over the past few months, with the election results being a key driving factor. Kraken's institutional head Tim Ogilvie stated, "OTC is now booming, prices are rising, and trading volumes have also significantly increased." Ogilvie noted that Kraken's OTC trading volume has grown by 220% year-on-year, with similar growth observed among other cryptocurrency trading firms. Jake Ostrovskis, an OTC trader at market-making firm Wintermute, mentioned that the market had been quiet until mid-year, until prices began to rise ahead of the election, and market participants were looking to prepare for the results. He pointed out that Wintermute has had discussions with some clients for years, who believe the election is the green light to start trading. Embert Lin, a trader at market-making firm GSR, stated that the company's trading volume has also significantly increased since the election, "As BTC/ETH and altcoins rise, projects and investors are becoming more active in managing funds and risks at these levels, and institutions and others are also looking for new opportunities and methods to gain investment opportunities beyond BTC and ETH." Brett Reeves, head of Go Network at BitGo, stated that the U.S. election has been a major driver of recent trading volume growth, with two-thirds of the company's trading volume coming from the past three months due to the election results. Furthermore, OTC clients are starting to delve deeper into more cryptocurrencies, as long as they have enough liquidity. "It may be generally believed in OTC that people are willing to take on more risk. We see this in two ways. One is direct buying, but we also see people moving out along the risk curve. They start with Bitcoin, then move to Ethereum, and then to SOL, and perhaps they start to move towards some altcoins," Ogilvie added, noting that SOL has seen significant trading volume in recent months. (The Block)
