The institutional over-the-counter crypto market posted a sharp acceleration in the first half of 2024, with spot transaction volume rising 95% year over year, according to a report from Finery Markets. The study, based on two million institutional spot trades executed during H1 2024 and compared with the same period in 2023, points to a market increasingly shaped by institutional demand, regulatory clarity, and broader access to digital-asset investment products.
ETF Approvals Help Drive Institutional Activity
One of the clearest catalysts behind the surge was the approval of spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds in the United States. Those approvals gave traditional investors a more familiar and regulated route into the crypto market, and they also appeared to reinforce confidence across related trading venues. In that setting, OTC desks benefited because they remain a key channel for institutions seeking to execute larger trades with reduced market impact and tailored liquidity support.
The report’s findings align with broader signs of institutional absorption in the market. Earlier reporting noted that institutional liquidity providers and OTC desks absorbed 88% of Germany’s bitcoin sales, underscoring the role of professional counterparties in digesting large flows. That context helps explain why OTC infrastructure has become increasingly important as institutional participation deepens.
Ethereum Participation Expands Beyond Bitcoin
While bitcoin remained central to the institutional narrative, the report also highlighted stronger demand for ethereum. Finery Markets said ethereum trading volume rose 32% in H1 2024 compared with the same period a year earlier. That increase suggests that institutional investors are not limiting their exposure to bitcoin alone, but are gradually broadening their focus to other major digital assets.
Monthly performance data showed that April 2024 was especially strong, with transaction volumes jumping 158% year over year. The timing is notable, as the month followed a series of ETF-related approvals and market developments that appeared to energize trading activity. Although momentum cooled somewhat in May and June, the report emphasized that the overall trajectory remained positive rather than reversing.
Shift in Market Structure: More Crypto-to-Crypto, Less Crypto-to-Fiat
Beyond top-line volume growth, the report pointed to changes in the composition of institutional trading. Crypto-to-crypto transactions increased 50% year over year in the first six months of 2024, while crypto-to-fiat pairs declined 12% over the same period. That shift may indicate that institutions are becoming more active within the digital-asset ecosystem itself, rather than using crypto markets primarily as a point of entry or exit against traditional currencies.
This structural move could reflect a maturing market in which traders and firms increasingly rebalance directly between digital assets, stablecoins, and onchain liquidity venues. For OTC participants, that may mean greater demand for execution services that go beyond basic fiat conversion and instead support portfolio rotation, treasury management, and cross-asset positioning inside crypto-native markets.
Stablecoin Usage Accelerates Across Networks
Another major trend in the report was the rapid expansion of stablecoin-related activity. Finery Markets said transactions involving stablecoins across all blockchains and layers rose 2.6 times year over year. That gain highlights the central role stablecoins now play in institutional digital-asset trading, both as a settlement instrument and as a liquidity bridge between venues, assets, and strategies.
The rise of stablecoins is particularly relevant in OTC markets, where speed, settlement flexibility, and capital efficiency matter. Institutions often rely on stablecoins to move value quickly without the frictions associated with traditional banking rails. As digital-asset markets become more interconnected across chains and layers, stablecoins appear to be strengthening their position as foundational infrastructure for large-scale trading activity.
Why OTC Desks Continue to Matter
The report’s findings reinforce the idea that OTC venues remain essential to institutional crypto market structure. Unlike exchange order books, OTC desks can provide customized execution, deeper bilateral relationships, and reduced slippage for larger transactions. Those advantages become even more valuable when institutional volumes rise in response to ETF launches, macro events, or concentrated asset flows.
In a market shaped by both opportunity and fragmentation, institutions often prioritize reliability, price discovery, and controlled execution over purely retail-style access. The strong growth in H1 2024 suggests that OTC providers are continuing to capture that demand, especially as more traditional financial firms explore digital-asset exposure.
Outlook Remains Positive as Regulation Improves
Looking ahead, the report struck an optimistic tone on institutional adoption. It suggested that further ETF approvals tied to ether and potentially other cryptocurrencies could support another leg of growth in institutional participation. A more favorable regulatory backdrop is also helping create a clearer path for banks, asset managers, and other established financial institutions to engage with digital assets.
That does not mean growth will be linear month to month. The report itself noted that activity moderated somewhat after April’s exceptional gains. Still, the broader picture remains constructive: institutional demand is rising, product access is improving, and infrastructure such as OTC desks and stablecoin networks is scaling to meet more sophisticated use cases.
In short, H1 2024 marked a major step forward for the institutional crypto OTC market. With spot volume up 95%, ethereum activity also rising, crypto-to-crypto flows gaining share, and stablecoin usage surging, the sector appears to be evolving from a niche liquidity channel into a critical part of the digital-asset trading landscape.