OTC
Definition
OTC (Over The Counter) — assets traded inside the broker's platform rather than on an open exchange. They are available around the clock, including weekends, and their quotes are formed by the platform itself, acting as the market maker.
What OTC assets are
OTC stands for Over The Counter — that is, off-exchange. These are assets traded inside the broker's platform rather than on an open exchange. In the asset list they are marked with the OTC suffix — for example, "EUR/USD OTC". Their defining feature: they are available around the clock, including weekends, whereas regular Forex is closed on weekends.
OTC quotes are formed by the platform itself: it maintains the price and a flow of matching orders, acting as the market maker. That is why an over-the-counter asset's price is not the same as the price of the identically named pair on the real market.
OTC versus real Forex
The differences fit neatly into one table:
| Parameter | Real Forex | OTC |
|---|---|---|
| Hours | Mon–Fri | 24/7, including weekends |
| Quote source | interbank / exchange | platform (market maker) |
| Gaps | appear after weekends and news | almost none |
| Reaction to major news | strong | smoothed, weaker |
Example
Sunday, the real Forex market is closed. In the terminal only OTC pairs remain in the asset list — the trader opens a trade on "EUR/USD OTC". Price behaves more evenly here: no weekend gaps and no sharp news spikes, because there is no news flow in the usual sense. This does not make trading easier — the references are simply different: what worked on real Forex during the week may behave differently on OTC, and the strategy needs separate testing.
OTC in the terminal
In BinoView Supercharts OTC assets are chosen from the same catalogue as ordinary pairs, but marked OTC and available on weekends when the rest of the market is closed. Indicators — RSI, for instance — work on them the same way technically, but because of the synthetic quote feed their signals should be checked against the statistics of the specific OTC asset, not against habits from the real market.
How it differs from the real market
The key difference is the source of the price and the hours. Real Forex is the interbank price with exchange hours and a reaction to news; OTC is the platform's internal feed, available at all times. Hence the practical takeaway: OTC has fewer external anchors, so win rate and a strategy's behaviour are measured on it separately, not equated with results on the real pair of the same name.
Frequently asked questions
Can you trade OTC on weekends?
Yes — that is the whole point of OTC. The regular Forex market is closed from Friday evening to Monday morning, while over-the-counter assets stay available the entire time. On weekends it is the OTC pairs that remain in the asset list.
Why is OTC riskier than regular Forex?
Quotes are formed by the platform, not the interbank market, so there are fewer external references and ordinary fundamental analysis works less well. Technical analysis still applies, but a strategy should be tested on OTC separately — price behaves in its own way here.
Are OTC and real Forex the same price?
No. An OTC asset (for example, 'EUR/USD OTC') uses a separate platform quote feed and is not tied directly to the interbank price of the same pair. They are different instruments, and their moves do not match.