# Onboarding at Four OTC Desks: What Each Required

> Document lists, timelines and the questions that revealed which desks had done institutional business before.

- Source: https://cryptofieldtest.com/otc-desk-onboarding-test/
- Published: 2026-07-30
- Author: Chris Delaney
- Publication: Crypto Field Test — Wallets and exchanges, tested with real money
- Topic: otc
- Tags: otc, onboarding, testing

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We onboarded at four desks with the same entity and recorded what each required and how long it took.

## Timelines

Three days, six days, two weeks, and one that never completed because they could not accommodate our jurisdiction, which they discovered at the end. A provider publishing its terms makes this measurable, and [an OTC crypto desk](https://collectnexchange.com/services/crypto-otc) publishes them.

## The document sets

All four wanted the standard corporate pack: incorporation documents, register extract, beneficial ownership, director identification, business description.

Two additionally wanted a source of wealth explanation at entity level, which is normal for institutional counterparties and took the longest to assemble.

One wanted audited accounts. One wanted a reference from an existing counterparty.

## The questions that discriminated

We asked each the same five: which entity will we contract with, does it hold the authorisation, what settlement structures do you support, what size will you quote without hesitation in our assets, and has a client ever had a settlement fail. On the merchant side the equivalent is [a corporate crypto wallet with segregated accounts](https://collectnexchange.com/business-solutions/corporate-crypto-wallet), which we tested separately.

**Two answered all five specifically.** Both named a size, described settlement mechanics as standing arrangements rather than per-trade negotiations, and described a past settlement problem and what changed.

**One answered three.** Declined on size, saying it depends, which is true and unhelpful as a complete answer.

**One answered with a call invitation and then a brochure.**

## The settlement structure question

The two that answered specifically both offered settlement through a regulated intermediary as a standing option, documented.

The other two proposed to agree it per trade, which means negotiating the protection at the moment you are also negotiating a price. That is the wrong order and it is how weaker arrangements get accepted.

## What the pattern predicted

The two that onboarded fastest were the two that answered all five questions. Their processes were the most demanding in terms of documents and the least ambiguous in terms of what happens next.

The desk that never completed had the lightest document requirements, which we initially read as efficiency.

## What we would do

Send the five questions before beginning onboarding. The answers take a day and they eliminate desks that will waste two weeks.

And ask about jurisdiction coverage first, specifically for your entity's registration, because that is what stopped one of ours after two weeks of document exchange. Reproduce this yourself. [the published coverage list](https://collectnexchange.com/company/supported-countries) quotes without an account, which makes the comparison a five minute exercise.

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This article explains how something works. It is not financial advice.
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