Signs carried? 2-year BTC highs held on Crypto OTC tables could mean trouble for Bitcoin

Crypto over-the-counter (OTC) desks, which facilitate high-volume transactions between buyers and sellers, currently hold 368,000 bitcoins (BTC), worth a staggering $22 billion at current market prices. This marks the highest level seen since June 2022.

According to a report by on-chain analyst CryptoQuant, $22 billion in BTC has been moved in the last three months, a staggering 70% increase in balance. In particular, the number of bitcoins held in wallets linked to OTC desks rose from 215,000 BTC (about $13 billion) in June to 368,000 BTC (about $22 billion) this month, CryptoQuant said. This represents an impressive increase of 153,000 BTC ($9.2 billion) in three months.

Miners are the main contributors.

An OTC desk acts as a matchmaker that facilitates direct high-volume transactions between buyers and sellers without involving a public order book. These platforms help large investors to place large orders wisely and fill them without significantly impacting the market.

Among the biggest investors, miners have contributed a lot to the growing Bitcoin balance in OTC tables.

CryptoQuant said they often turn to OTC deals to sell their BTC, “looking for better performance without affecting the market price.

The analysis platform added that the significant increase in OTC desk BTC balances indicates a strong selling activity among miners.

A recurring trend

CryptoQuant has pointed to a recurring trend related to the rise of Bitcoin OTC desk accounts. According to the report, an increase in Bitcoin OTC desk holdings will cause the digital asset's price to fall.

“Historically, increases in Bitcoin OTC desk balances have been associated with declines in Bitcoin prices,” CryptoQuant wrote.

These may not come as a surprise, as selling from large investors like miners usually results in short-term price weakness.

At the time of writing, BTC is trading at $60,747, which was a slight increase in the last 24 hours.