According to PANews on December 26, multiple cryptocurrency trading companies have recently reported a rapid increase in over-the-counter (OTC) trading volumes in recent months, with election results becoming a significant driving force. Tim Ogilvie, head of institutional business at Kraken exchange, stated: "OTC trading is currently exceptionally active, with volumes surging alongside price increases." He revealed that Kraken's OTC trading volume has increased significantly by 220% year-on-year, with other trading companies reporting similar growth.
Jake Ostrovskis, an OTC trader at market maker Wintermute, noted that the market was relatively calm mid-year, but as the election approached and prices rose, market participants began actively preparing for the election results. He mentioned that Wintermute had been in discussions with some clients for years, and the election results became the impetus for them to initiate trading. Similarly, GSR's trader Embert Lin stated that the company's trading volume has increased significantly since the election. With the rise in prices of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and altcoins, projects and investors have shown a significantly increased enthusiasm for managing funds and risks at these price levels, while also seeking new opportunities to access cryptocurrencies beyond BTC and ETH.
A trader from an over-the-counter trading company privately revealed that recent trading volumes have easily reached levels seen at the peak of the cryptocurrency market hype in 2021. Furthermore, Brett Reeves, head of Go Network at cryptocurrency custody firm BitGo, pointed out that the election results are the main driving force behind the recent surge in trading volumes, with two-thirds of the trading volume occurring in the three months following the announcement of the election results.
