OTC Desks evaluated across published minimum ticket, counterparty footing and asset segregation, documented settlement mechanics, and published price transparency.
Gemini eOTC
#1 of 9 · published ranking
Gemini eOTC
80ChainChoice Score
4199
Why it leads
Best in the pool on published minimum ticket (10/10; next 9/10)
Cost
Not priced· No comparable price is published
No provider can pay for a position in this table. The code that computes this order cannot read which links earn us a commission, and every build proves it. Every score below rebuilds from the published criteria.Ranking 2026.08 · 4 criteria · 9 products · same inputs, same order
Personal comparison
OTC Desks ranked comparison
No comparable price is published; ranking still uses verified product evidence.
RankProviderBest fitScore
1
Gemini eOTCGemini eOTCElectronic RFQ platform that routes an...Top ranked
Published minimum ticket — 10/10Trade-off: The $1,000 minimum and the NYDFS licence belong to two different companies. The regul...
Commission: This provider pays ChainChoice nothing for this link. Disclosure
Crypto products are high risk. Check the provider is authorised where you live before you deposit.
3 more assessed and ranked below — none of them hidden for commercial reasons.
Ranking blindCommercial terms excludedDated primary sourcesCrypto products are high risk. Check the provider is authorised where you live before you deposit.
Ranked on 4 published criteria weighted 30/30/22/18, which set goal alignment — 30 of the 86 points. The rest: regional access 20, evidence depth 18, ease of use 10, institutional trust 8. Profile match is shown in breakdowns but carries no weight.
Audit
Infrastructure
Methodology
2026.09.15
published 2026-09-16
Providers tracked
980+
across 119 categories
Last verified
2026-09-24
newest dated pricing or sentiment read
Named on the roster
2 people
managing directors · 6 automated processes
Decision guide
What matters most before choosing in this category
Weighted on the smallest ticket a desk will actually quote (30), the regulatory footing and whether client assets are segregated (30), documented settlement mechanics (22), and published price transparency (18). That last weight is the lowest because on the evidence there is almost nothing to weigh: not one of the nine desks publishes a spread. Five deny fees outright — Kraken OTC Desk's "We do not charge you any fees for our service", Cumberland (DRW)'s "we do not charge any fees", Wintermute OTC's "Tightest spreads, no fees or commission", Binance OTC & Execution Services' "There are no fees to trade OTC", and Gemini eOTC's "There are no additional trading or settlement fees when using eOTC". Every statement is true and none tells you what the trade costs. Every desk here trades as principal, on the other side of your order, so the price IS the fee.
What matters most before choosing in this category
Weighted on the smallest ticket a desk will actually quote (30), the regulatory footing and whether client assets are segregated (30), documented settlement mechanics (22), and published price transparency (18). That last weight is the lowest because on the evidence there is almost nothing to weigh: not one of the nine desks publishes a spread. Five deny fees outright — Kraken OTC Desk's "We do not charge you any fees for our service", Cumberland (DRW)'s "we do not charge any fees", Wintermute OTC's "Tightest spreads, no fees or commission", Binance OTC & Execution Services' "There are no fees to trade OTC", and Gemini eOTC's "There are no additional trading or settlement fees when using eOTC". Every statement is true and none tells you what the trade costs. Every desk here trades as principal, on the other side of your order, so the price IS the fee.
Will this desk quote a ticket your size, and is that minimum published?
Which legal entity faces you, and is it authorised to trade or only registered for AML?
What does the desk disclose about how its quote is built — and where does it disclose it?
Current editor lead
Expert review and scoring weights
Gemini eOTC
Gemini eOTCData checked Sep 2026
Electronic RFQ platform that routes an order across external liquidity providers and faces the client through a single Gemini entity, with the lowest published dollar minimum in the pool.
Electronic RFQ platform that routes an order across external liquidity providers and faces the client through a single Gemini entity, with the lowest published dollar minimum in the pool. Strongest on published minimum ticket (10/10): Gemini's eOTC page answers the question directly: "The minimum trade size is $1,000 notional value per order." An exact figure, readable without a sales contact, and the lowest dollar floor in this pool. Weakest on published price transparency (2/10): Gemini publishes "There are no additional trading or settlement fees when using eOTC" and that "Pricing is sourced from top liquidity providers to pass on tight spreads and deep liquidity to you." No spread, markup, benchmark or basis-point figure follows, and Gemini's fee index lists no OTC schedule. Published price: "Are there any additional fees or charges to use Gemini eOTC? No. There are no additional trading or settlement fees when using eOTC or working with Gemini’s eOTC Trading Team." — quoted from https://www.gemini.com/institutions/otc, fetched 2026-09-24.
Best forPublished minimum ticket — 10/10
Main tradeoffThe $1,000 minimum and the NYDFS licence belong to two different companies. The regulated, fiduciary, qualified-custodian entity is Gemini Trust Company; the entity that is your counterparty on every eOTC trade is Gemini NuStar, LLC, and the page describes GTC only as managing the settlement and wallet infrastructure NuStar uses. Anyone relying on 'qualified custodian under the New York Banking Law' as their counterparty protection should confirm in the trading agreement which entity holds the obligation to them, because the marketing page and the trade ticket do not name the same company.
Verify before signup"Are there any additional fees or charges to use Gemini eOTC? No. There are no additional trading or settlement fees when using eOTC or working with Gemini’s eOTC Trading Team." — quoted from https://www.gemini.com/institutions/otc, fetched 2026-09-24. The same page now carries a second rendering of the answer in its lower FAQ block: "There are no additional fees to trade with eOTC nor to settle with Gemini’s eOTC Trading Team." No spread, markup or bps figure appears anywhere on the page; the pricing description is qualitative only: "Pricing is sourced from top liquidity providers to pass on tight spreads and deep liquidity to you." The institutional landing page reinforces that the number is private per client: "Customized pricing aligned to the needs of your business. Gemini works with each customer to create tailored, unique price plans." (www.gemini.com/institutions, fetched 2026-09-24). Gemini's fee-schedule index (www.gemini.com/fees, fetched 2026-09-24) still lists schedules for Custody, ActiveTrader, Transfers, Predictions, Stocks and the main Gemini schedule, and none for OTC.
Methodology
How this category is reviewed
Reviewed on published minimum ticket, counterparty footing and asset segregation, documented settlement mechanics, and published price transparency.
The order on this page is the published ranking for this category. Every criterion, weight and source behind it is on the methodology page.
Frequently asked
Questions people ask before choosing otc desks
If OTC desks charge no fees, why is it more expensive than an exchange?
Because "no fees" describes the invoice, not the cost. Cumberland (DRW)'s FAQ makes the mechanism explicit: "We are a principal trading firm and trade for our own account at our own risk. As such, we do not charge any fees" — the "as such" is doing the work, because a firm on the other side of your trade does not need a fee line. Wintermute OTC states the same structure in its disclaimer: "Each Wintermute Entity trades for its own account and with assets (including digital assets) that belong to it." The cost is the distance between the quote and the market, and no desk in this pool publishes it. Two are more forthcoming than the rest: Coinbase Prime discloses "a negotiated basis points rate", and Bitfinex OTC says plainly that "Fees are built into the desk quote".
Can I compare two desks on price before I trade?
No, and that is a property of the category rather than a gap in this research. The closest thing to a published rate anywhere in the pool is Binance OTC & Execution Services' "Options RFQ trades are subject to a flat trading fee of 0.02%", which does not apply to spot — the product most buyers come for. Cumberland (DRW) is the only desk that describes how its price is formed, and it does so in its transaction terms rather than its FAQ: quotes "may be above or below a composite fair-market midpoint value calculated by Cumberland NY using proprietary models", with the spread varying by "market volatility, Cumberland NY targeted positions, availability of coin borrows, trade size, and overall liquidity of specific token(s)". Note the second factor — the price moves with the desk's own inventory, not only with the market. The practical answer is to put the same order to two desks at the same moment and compare the quotes.
Does an FCA or similar registration mean the desk is regulated?
Not necessarily, and one page in this pool demonstrates the trap in forty words. Wintermute OTC's page states that it is "registered with the UK Financial Conduct Authority for its cryptoasset activities under the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer for Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 as amended (FRN:928764)" and then, immediately after, that "Neither Wintermute Entity is authorised or regulated by any regulatory authority. Any party trading with either Wintermute Entity may not benefit from the protections typically provided when trading with regulated entities, such as any compensation or ombudsman schemes." Both statements are accurate: an AML registration is not a trading authorisation. Read for the second sentence, not the licence number.
Not financial advice · For informational purposes only · Always do your own research
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