OKEx to Open Thai and U.K. OTC Trading Desk
January 25, 2019 by Paul de Havilland
OKEx has announced plans to open an over-the-counter (OTC) trading facility for users in the U.K. and Thailand. The move sees the exchange open the doors for fiat deposits of the Pound Sterling (GBP) and the Thai Baht (THB).
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OKEx Winning Hearts, Minds, Pounds, and Baht
The unusual combination of Thailand and the U.K. is probably largely coincidental. The world’s second largest exchange bills itself as “The Most Trusted Digital Asset Exchange”, a cheeky branding effort for an exchange that socializes losses when whales overreach and for a company whose founder has been recently questioned by Chinese police.
Now, it is seeking to win the hearts and minds of British and Thai nationals, by offering them OTC trading opportunities. Whether it is intended as a joke or not, OKEx is offering new users 50 Tethers upon sign up:
Celebrate the launch of Thai Baht (THB) & British Pound (GBP) OTC markets with us.
Join OKEx today to get a welcome bonus of up to 50 USDT!
Details: https://t.co/zu0M4P4Isc
•UK & Thai users exclusive pic.twitter.com/wjvq6ZSIUY
— OKEx (@OKEx) January 23, 2019
If only those Tethers were redeemable for… well… anything. The exchange is also offering trading services in Vietnamese Dong and Chinese Renminbi. Its OTC trading desk adds to its growing suite of products, which include futures trading and perpetual swaps in eight cryptocurrencies: BTC, BCH, BSV, EOS, ETC, ETH, LTC, and XRP.
The U.K. and Thailand Are Only the Beginning
OKEx is eyeing off continued expansion and anticipates opening other markets as the industry grows. It attributes its launch of Pound Sterling and Baht trading capabilities to demand among British and Thai traders.
OTC trading is designed for large investors seeking to place trades without moving the market. Interestingly, the OKEx news follows Binance’s announced launch of a crypto-to-crypto over-the-counter trading desk:
“#Binance has launched an crypto OTC desk providing additional liquidity to our exchange users” – @weizhouBinance https://t.co/qVBPaiKgyX
— Binance (@binance) January 22, 2019
According to OKEx Head of Operations Andy Cheung:
“Our mission is simple at OKEx. We aim to offer flexibility and convenience to our traders. Thailand and the UK own the fastest growing crypto communities in the world. We see great potential in these two markets and want to support the needs there. Because of the increasing trading volume and the number of traders in these two countries, we decided to launch the new THB and GBP trading services on our OTC trading platform. Wherever the market potential locates, we will expand there. In 2019, you can expect more currencies will be supported on OKEx.”
Sound off below. Are you Thai or British and excited to see OTC trading in your fiat currency?
Images via Pixabay
