Binance announces fiat-to-crypto OTC trading

The world’s number one cryptocurrency exchange by adjusted volume, Binance, has announced plans to add over-the-counter (OTC) trading to its platform in a month to provide customers with fiat currency gateways.

Binance co-founder announces fiat-to-crypto OTC trading

He Yi, Binance’s co-founder and chief marketing officer stated at a media session on Tuesday during Shanghai Blockchain Week that the platform will specifically feature support for fiat on-ramping via OTC for the Chinese yuan.

Yi added that the new service will form part of Binance’s plans to dedicate more resources and time in the coming months to be a competitor in China’s market. Furthermore, the crypto exchange is also launching a payment service which will allow users from 170 nations to purchase crypto assets via fiat currencies on binance.com.

Over the counter trading crucial in China

Due to China’s local authorities enforcing the direct connection of crypto exchanges to banks and fiat deposits as part of the nation’s ban on ICO’s in 2017, fiat-to-crypto OTC trading has become a crucial element in terms of fiat on-ramps for crypto traders.

Other reputable Chinese crypto exchanges such as OKCoin and Huobi have moved their operations abroad since the ban and have been offering crypto-to-crypto trading while recruiting OTC market makers onto their platforms to assist users in purchasing and selling of cryptos via the Chinese yuan.

Binance reeling in investments

The news about Binance’s OTC plans comes as the exchange has been racking up several deals which would increase its links to the traditional economy and thus improve its connections to fiat finance.

At the beginning of September, binance.com started offering sandboxes for the testing of two crypto-futures trading platforms. These platforms have been dubbed Futures A and Futures B. Users have been called to vote on their favourite platform. Following this, Binance announced that it had acquired the Seychelles-registered JEX, a crypto derivatives exchange.

Just last week also saw Binance introduce a dollar-pegged stable coin, Binance USD which has received approval from the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS).

Furthermore, the crypto exchange has also been allegedly pitching its stablecoin offerings as alternatives to Facebook’s forthcoming Libra cryptocurrency.

Lastly, just yesterday saw Binance investing in Mars Finance, a China-based cryptocurrency data and media company, however, the investment amount was not disclosed to the public.