OTC Volume Plunges 19.5% WoW to $921B as Market Makers Retreat Amid Volatility
MarketsFN Data Team
OTC stands for Over-The-Counter. It refers to any equity trade that is executed outside a formal lit exchange such as NYSE or Nasdaq. Instead of matching orders on a public order book, OTC trades are handled privately between two parties — typically a broker-dealer acting as market maker and a client. Roughly 45–50% of all US equity volume trades OTC every week.
Wholesalers (e.g. Citadel Securities, Virtu) receive retail orders from brokers like Robinhood or Fidelity and fill them internally, often at prices slightly better than the exchange quote — a practice called internalization. Dark pools / ATS (Alternative Trading Systems, e.g. UBS ATS, INCR) are private crossing venues where institutional investors trade anonymously to minimise market impact.
Market makers provide liquidity by continuously quoting both a buy (bid) and sell (ask) price. They profit from the bid-ask spread and from payment for order flow (PFOF) — fees brokers pay for routing retail orders to them. Citadel Securities alone handled over $264 billion in T1 notional this week, making it the dominant force in US retail equity execution.
Rising OTC share can signal increased retail activity (which flows to wholesalers) or institutional block trading (which flows to dark pools). A falling OTC share may indicate more price-sensitive institutional orders moving to lit exchanges. FINRA publishes this data weekly to ensure transparency in a market that by design operates away from public view. T1 data has a 2-week delay; T2 and OTC equity securities carry a 4-week delay.
T1 OTC notional fell sharply to $921.1B this week, down 19.5% WoW, with Citadel and Virtu leading a broad pullback as retail and institutional flow dried up across dark pools and wholesalers.
Total T1 OTC volume of $921.1B represents a 19.5% WoW decline and a 28.9% drop from 3 months ago, signaling reduced risk appetite among market makers. The OTC share of trading likely compressed lit-exchange volumes, with current levels subdued compared to the $1.3T peak in June 2026. This suggests broader market liquidity constraints.
Citadel remains dominant with $188.6B in T1 volume despite a 23.6% WoW drop, while Virtu (-22.5% WoW) and HRT (-19% WoW) show similar retreats. Morgan Stanley (-14.6% WoW) outperformed peers, likely capturing institutional block flow. UBS ATS and INCR both fell ~16-19% WoW, indicating reduced dark pool activity. Ranking stability suggests no major routing shifts, only volume contraction.
Market Maker Leaderboard — Full Detail
| Firm | Notional | WoW | vs 3M ago | Shares | Mkt Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. CITADEL SECURITIES LLC | $188.6B | ▼ 23.6% | ▼ 27.6% | 2.02B | 20.5% |
| 2. VIRTU AMERICAS LLC | $112.0B | ▼ 22.5% | ▼ 38.4% | 1.18B | 12.2% |
| 3. MORGAN STANLEY & CO. LLC | $102.8B | ▼ 14.6% | ▼ 1.8% | 725M | 11.2% |
| 4. HRT FINANCIAL LP | $99.4B | ▼ 19.0% | ▲ 11.8% | 1.09B | 10.8% |
| 5. GOLDMAN SACHS & CO. LLC | $87.5B | ▼ 12.7% | ▼ 20.8% | 672M | 9.5% |
| 6. UBSA UBS ATS | $79.4B | ▼ 16.7% | ▼ 35.9% | 650M | 8.6% |
| 7. INCR INTELLIGENT CROSS LLC | $76.8B | ▼ 19.0% | ▼ 40.1% | 757M | 8.3% |
| 8. JANE STREET CAPITAL, LLC | $62.4B | ▼ 23.2% | ▼ 45.9% | 656M | 6.8% |
| 9. G1 EXECUTION SERVICES, LLC | $60.2B | ▼ 21.5% | ▼ 44.5% | 622M | 6.5% |
| 10. SGMT SIGMA X2 | $52.0B | ▼ 14.9% | ▼ 29.0% | 430M | 5.6% |
NVDA ($44.8B) and AAPL ($34.6B) led OTC activity, with AAPL surging 231.7% WoW likely due to iPhone 15 pre-order hedging. SPCX ($31.9B, +26.6% WoW) saw continued speculative interest post-Starship test. NVDA's 41.2% WoW drop suggests cooling AI hype. High OTC notional for these names implies price discovery increasingly occurs off-exchange, potentially widening spreads.
Most Traded OTC — NMS Tier 1 · week of 2026-09-07 Rank change vs 3M shown in green/red next to ticker
| Ticker | Company | OTC Notional | WoW | vs 3M ago | Shares | Impl. Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. NVDA ▲3 | NVIDIA Corporation Common Stock | $44.8B | ▼ 41.2% | ▼ 39.6% | 201M | ~$222.71 |
| 2. AAPL ▲6 | Apple Inc. Common Stock | $34.6B | ▲ 231.7% | ▼ 2.1% | 108M | ~$321.50 |
| 3. SPCX | Space Exploration Technologies Corp. | $31.9B | ▲ 26.6% | — | 213M | ~$149.91 |
| 4. SPY ▼2 | State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust | $30.7B | ▲ 0.3% | ▼ 69.9% | 40M | ~$762.87 |
| 5. INTC ▲2 | Intel Corporation Common Stock | $22.9B | ▲ 26.6% | ▼ 43.7% | 222M | ~$103.38 |
| 6. ORCL | Oracle Corp | $16.5B | — | ▲ 147.2% | 105M | ~$157.86 |
| 7. SPYM ▲3 | State Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 | $12.6B | — | ▲ 4.1% | 140M | ~$89.83 |
| 8. SGOV | iShares 0-3 Month Treasury Bond ETF | $5.9B | ▼ 31.6% | ▼ 26.5% | 59M | ~$100.49 |
| 9. HYG | iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate | $3.2B | ▼ 17.0% | ▼ 9.6% | 41M | ~$78.86 |
| 10. NU | Nu Holdings Ltd. | $3.0B | ▼ 27.1% | ▲ 415.6% | 197M | ~$15.10 |
| 11. VTEB | Vanguard Tax-Exempt Bond Index Fund | $2.9B | — | — | 60M | ~$48.46 |
| 12. LQD | iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Cor | $2.8B | ▼ 14.8% | — | 27M | ~$104.90 |
T2 volume remains concentrated in leveraged ETFs (SOXL, TQQQ) and meme stocks (ONDS, TSLL), with SNXX's $2.2B notional vs 168M shares indicating penny stock trading. OTC T2 volume is down ~30% 3M, mirroring T1 trends, but meme stocks still show disproportionate share counts relative to notional value.
Most Traded OTC — NMS Tier 2 · week of 2026-08-24
| Ticker | Company | OTC Notional | WoW | vs 3M ago | Shares | Impl. Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. SOXL | Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3X | $4.8B | ▼ 28.1% | ▼ 30.6% | 41M | ~$115.5950 |
| 2. SNXX | Tradr 2X Long SNDK Daily ETF | $2.2B | ▼ 47.5% | — | 168M | ~$12.9754 |
| 3. TSLL | Direxion Shares ETF Trust Direxion D | $2.1B | ▼ 22.9% | — | 234M | ~$9.1023 |
| 4. ONDS | Ondas Inc. Common Stock | $1.9B | ▼ 12.0% | ▼ 48.7% | 228M | ~$8.3279 |
| 5. TQQQ | ProShares UltraPro QQQ | $1.6B | ▼ 10.9% | — | 23M | ~$70.8858 |
| 6. SMR | NuScale Power Corporation | $1.3B | — | — | 142M | ~$9.4439 |
| 7. NVD | GraniteShares ETF Trust GraniteShare | $1.2B | ▲ 84.2% | — | 297M | ~$4.1057 |
| 8. SOXS | Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bear 3X | $1.1B | ▼ 28.9% | ▼ 80.3% | 22M | ~$48.2923 |
| 9. DAIC | CID HoldCo, Inc. Common Stock | $682M | — | — | 176M | ~$3.8849 |
| 10. KORU | Direxion Daily MSCI South Korea Bull | $526M | ▼ 50.8% | — | 26M | ~$20.4285 |
4-week publication delay on T2 data. High share count vs low notional = penny stock activity. Implied price = notional / shares (estimate only).
Watch for SEC comments on dark pool transparency rules expected October 2026, which could pressure UBS ATS and INCR. Citadel's scale makes it resilient, but Virtu's 38.4% 3M drop leaves it exposed. Upcoming Q3 earnings and October FOMC may spike OTC volumes if volatility returns.
