Okcoin insitutional activity rose in Q2 despite market downturn

• Okcoin’s institutional clientele increased by 13% in Q2 and by 28% over the first half of 2022.

• Stablecoins (USDT and USDC) have been very popular buys for institutions in 2022 compared to the last bear market.

• Institutional activity on Okcoin jumped 125% in Q2 from Q1, with Bitcoin still seeing the majority of trading activity at 40%.

Okcoin has announced that institutional activity on its trading platform grew 125% from Q1 to Q2 in 2022, reflecting a more than 2x increase for the fourth-consecutive quarter.

The surge in institutional investor trading volumes come as the US-based cryptocurrency’s clientele in this category increased by 13% over the quarter. 

Overall, Okcoin saw its institutional clientele accounts grow by 28% in the first six months of the year, the platform said in a press release published on Thursday.

Institutional investors buy more despite crypto winter

Institutional clients on the exchange include legacy financial trading firms, asset managers, prime brokers, venture funds and hedge funds, among other large-cap customers. Trading activity amongst these groups has been on the up despite the crypto winter.

“Despite the market downturn, institutional activity on Okcoin continues to reflect increasing crypto interest and greater sector maturity,” the firm’s COO Jason Lau said in a comment.

According to Lau, institutional client activity in 2022 is markedly different from what was observed in the last bear market.

“Whereas in 2018 we saw institutions liquidate their crypto holdings in response to the bear market, nearly all of our clients are seeking greater exposure this time around and taking a longer term view.”

As well as being more active in this bear market, institutional investors have also veered from largely buying Bitcoin (BTC), to considering top altcoins and stablecoins. Among these, Ethereum (ETH) has featured highly, and so have two of the leading stablecoins – USDT and USDC.

According to Okcoin, USDT and USDC purchases on the exchange in Q2 jumped 116% and 47% respectively from numbers recorded in Q1. However, Bitcoin still saw the most activity in the first half of 2022 compared to stablecoins, with BTC purchases on Okcoin accounting for 40% of trades compared to 33% for stablecoins.

Okcoin is one of the earliest cryptocurrency exchanges – it launched in 2013 – and it offers over 50 digital assets. Its services are accessible in 190 countries.