Wintermute's OTC Trading Volume Surges 400% in 2023 as Liquidity Challenges Persist on Exchanges

crypto trading volume on exchanges hit a multi-year low in 2023 due to the crypto winter, but over-the-counter (OTC) trading volume increased by 400% throughout the year, according to a report by Wintermute. In the first half of the year, OTC trading volume decreased while the number of individual trades remained stable. However, in the second half of the year, the number of unique trades grew sixfold to 29 million and weekly OTC volume hit $2 billion. A lack of liquidity has been a persistent challenge for exchanges throughout 2023, leading many institutional traders to move to OTC desks.