Coincheck launches Bitcoin [BTC] OTC trading for large-scale institutional investors

In an effort to further the entry of institutional investors into the crypto-sphere, Coincheck announced that it is launching an OTC trading desk for their institutional clients. After much anticipation, the Japanese exchange confirmed the same via an official blog post dated April 1.

The OTC trading desk will be pegged specifically for the top cryptocurrency Bitcoin [BTC], with the initial amount pegged at 50 BTC. From then on, the investment will be in increments of 25 Bitcoins i.e. 75 BTC, 100 BTC, 125 BTC and so forth. The post read,

“We are pleased to announce that Coincheck (WEB) has launched a large-scale OTC trading service for large-scale customers.”

Coincheck stated that “large-scale” OTC trading would be in operation on weekdays, from 1000 to 1500 [JST], via the Coincheck service [WEB].

Additionally, the exchange stated that at the moment, the OTC services were limited to Bitcoin, but expansion would be considered “from time to time.” Overtime trading or trading from OTC screens that are not for large trades is not allowed. Further, the use of the exchange’s app or Application Programming Interface [API] is also not allowed.

Coincheck follows a host of virtual currency exchanges that have veered towards institutional investors in launching an OTC trading desk. Binance, the largest exchange in the world, had earlier launched their own OTC desk. However, the minimum threshold for BTC trades on Binance was 20 BTC.

Bittrex and Coinbase, two top exchanges from the United States, also launched institutional trading services recently. Following Coinbase’s ordeal of becoming a regulated broker with the US Securities and Exchange Commission [SEC], it introduced OTC trading services in November 2018, while Bittrex launched its own OTC desk two months later.