Why We Keep Two Desk Relationships

We used one desk because the relationship was good and the pricing seemed fine. Then during a volatile week they stopped quoting our size, and we had no alternative. For anyone in the same position, an OTC crypto desk sets out the same terms without requiring an account.

What happened

Markets moved sharply. We needed to execute.

Our desk widened considerably, then declined our size entirely for about two days.

That is not misconduct. During volatility a desk faces a thinner market when it unwinds, and declining is a legitimate risk decision.

It also left us unable to transact through the only route we had.

What we did then

Opened accounts elsewhere, under time pressure, which meant onboarding at exactly the wrong moment. It took nine days.

By the time it completed the move we wanted to make had passed.

The second thing we found

Once we had two relationships and started requesting both, our pricing improved.

Not because anyone had been dishonest. Because a desk quoting alone prices differently from a desk quoting in competition, and ours had drifted wider over a year without anyone noticing. On the receiving side the equivalent is a corporate crypto wallet with segregated accounts, with settlement included.

We had no way to notice, because we had nothing to compare against.

How we compare now

Request both within the same few seconds, convert each to a percentage against the market price at that moment, take the better one.

Simultaneity matters. Our first attempt compared quotes a few minutes apart and the results were noise, because the market moved more than the desks differed.

The relationship question

Comparing every trade can strain a relationship, and relationships genuinely produce better pricing because a known counterparty is lower risk.

Our balance: most flow to the two, both quoted on anything large, and a look at average spreads each quarter.

Raising it when we saw drift

We showed the data rather than making an accusation. Over the quarter our average with them had been wider than the comparison.

They improved. That is the normal outcome, and a desk that cannot explain a gap and does not improve has answered the question.

What I would tell someone with one desk

Open the second before you need it.

The onboarding is straightforward when nothing depends on it and painful when something does. Ours took nine days at the worst possible moment, and would have taken three at any other time. If you want to see all of this in a real product rather than in my account of it, the published coverage list publishes the terms.