sFOX says execution through crypto dark pools rose from negligible volume in April to 15% of monthly volume by June. Separately, the firm’s July 30 report puts OTC-desk routing at 77.7% of institutional volume moving through the platform, versus 18.4% landing on public exchanges. May’s dark-pool volume alone came to $147 million.

Diana Pires of sFOX told CryptoSlate that the change is structural, comparing it with the repositioning that equities and foreign exchange markets went through years ago.

Why institutions use crypto dark pools

Large trades leave a trail when they sit on one public order book. Other traders can read the pattern, front-run the execution, or push the price against it before the order fills.

Pires pointed to…