Binance OTC Trading Explodes: 25% of 2025’s Total Volume Achieved in Just Two Months of 2026
Binance CEO Richard Teng has revealed a staggering surge in institutional crypto activity, disclosing that the exchange's over-the-counter desk has already processed 25% of its entire 2025 volume in the first two months of 2026. This explosive OTC growth, detailed in Binance's latest market digest, starkly contrasts with the current bearish spot market, forcing analysts to question whether traditional exchange volumes remain a reliable indicator of institutional capital flows and overall market health.
What is happening in the spot market?
According to industry data, the combined trading volumes across centralized crypto exchanges (CEXs) fell to $5.61 trillion in February 2026. Spot trading volume for the same month fell by 3% to $1.5 trillion.
The spot market is not also rosy for decentralized exchanges (DEXs) with activity dropping by 15.5% to $287 billion in February, which was its first monthly decline in three months.
Binance continues to lead the spot market, although its market share has shrunk to 22%, which is reportedly its lowest since 2020.
The market capitalization of the spot market is currently around $2.3 trillion, down by over 2.5% over the past month.
The retreat in spot trading volumes saw an increase through the final months of 2025.
US-listed spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), usually a bellwether of institutional sentiment, registered net outflows of $4.57 billion across November and December, their worst two-month stretch since launch, as Bitcoin’s price dropped 20% over the same period.
Where has institutional demand migrated?
According to Binance March OTC digest, Bitcoin’s share of OTC volumes rose from 4.91% in January to 45.81% in February, which is nearly a ten-fold increase, while stablecoin and fiat-to-crypto volume went up by more than double, rising from 21.43% to 48.95%.
Binance says that the activities that occurred during this period may be a result of bullish repositioning among institutional and high-net-worth clients.
Industry-scale participants are moving large sums through back channels, while retail traders sit on the sidelines, and the recent data shared by Binance places it as one of the choice platforms.
However, Binance’s OTC volume numbers do not tell the whole story about the market since its dynamics operate quite differently from public market sentiment.
The latest growth may be as a result of a change in the routing preferences of institutional traders, instead of net new demand, and this could be a plausible reason why the spot market is where it is now.
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