Since Bitcoin volumes\u00a0began to dissipate\u00a0in late-2018, which came alongside price plunges, the crypto’s curious investors have sought to determine where the money has fled. For the longest time, it was assumed that over-the-counter (OTC) desks picked up where spot exchanges, namely Bitfinex and Coinbase, were slacking. Yet, a recent company update from Circle has touted OTC statistics that could be deemed lackluster.<\/p>\n
Last week, the Goldman Sachs-backed, Boston-based Circle, a leading player in the nascent OTC market, released its year in review<\/a>, compiling pertinent data from fiscal 2018 in an apparent stab at transparency. Circle Trade, the startup’s OTC arm, reportedly transacted $24 billion in notional volumes across 10,000 transactions, which serviced 36 distinct crypto assets and 600 counterparties.<\/p>\n Alex Kr\u00fcger broke down the statistics in-depth via Twitter. Kr\u00fcger, a leading crypto researcher and commentator, noted that assuming 75% of Trade’s volume was the BTC\/USD pair, $49 million was traded each day on average.<\/p>\n In 2018 Circle's OTC desk traded an average of $66 million \/day. Most OTC is bitcoin => assume 75% of that was BTCUSD => that'd be $49 million \/day.<\/p>\n In contrast Bitmex traded an average of $2.1 billion \/day (XBTUSD), and Bitfinex $278 million \/day (BTCUSD). https:\/\/t.co\/g34sC9KoBK<\/a><\/p>\n — Alex Kr\u00fcger (@krugermacro) January 5, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n