Digest | April 2026

This month’s updates reflect a broader shift in market structure, from the rise of euro-denominated liquidity in onchain FX to the continued expansion of institutional OTC activity. Alongside new data from our Q1 2026 Crypto OTC Review, prepared with Caladan, and a case study with Monerium on scaling EURe liquidity, industry coverage by MarketsMedia highlighted the growing transition toward credit-first execution models.

Scaling euro liquidity for onchain FX execution

Accessing onchain liquidity has historically meant operating in USD-denominated environments, even for institutions with euro-based balance sheets. This structural mismatch introduced FX exposure, additional conversion steps, and operational inefficiencies.

Our recent case study with Monerium explores how this dynamic is beginning to change through EURe, a regulated euro stablecoin designed for payments, treasury operations, and settlement.

While euro-denominated value transfer was already possible, execution at scale remained constrained by fragmented liquidity and inconsistent pricing. Larger transactions often required manual order splitting, increasing slippage and reducing predictability.

By connecting EURe pairs to aggregated institutional liquidity on Finery Markets, execution becomes more consistent across larger trade sizes. Pricing stability improves, slippage is reduced, and workflows shift from fragmented processes toward a single execution layer, while maintaining a non-custodial model aligned with onchain principles.

This development enables more practical use of euros onchain, particularly for treasury rebalancing, FX conversion, and operational payments.

New report: stablecoins reinforce their role as settlement layer

The latest Crypto OTC Review for Q1 2026, prepared in collaboration with Caladan, points to a market that is not only expanding, but also gradually rebalancing.

Drawing on more than 5.2 million institutional spot trades, the data reflects continued growth in OTC activity alongside a deepening reliance on stablecoins as the primary settlement layer. Volumes increased by 43% year over year, while transaction count rose by 160%, signaling both higher activity and a shift toward more granular execution flows.

Stablecoins now account for 82% of total traded volume, reinforcing their central role in how institutional trades are executed and settled. EURC stands out as the fastest-growing asset, expanding 41X year over year and significantly outperforming both major crypto assets and other stablecoins.

This trend is closely linked to regulatory developments under MiCA regulation. As non-compliant stablecoins face restrictions across EU-regulated venues, liquidity is gradually shifting toward regulated alternatives, including euro-denominated instruments.

Taken together, data suggests an early-stage redistribution of liquidity, where EUR-based pairs are beginning to establish a more consistent presence alongside traditional USD flows.

Download report

Institutions migrate to credit-first crypto execution

Finery Markets was featured in a recent article by MarketsMedia, which draws on insights from our research to examine the shift toward credit-first execution in institutional crypto markets.

Prefunding models, which require capital to be distributed across multiple venues, have historically limited capital efficiency and created operational fragmentation. As highlighted in the article, institutions are increasingly moving toward frameworks where execution is separated from custody and settlement, enabling more efficient capital deployment.

This model supports capital-neutral trading and T+0 settlement, bringing crypto market structure closer to traditional financial systems. Execution venues operate primarily as connectivity layers, while clearing and settlement are handled independently.

As infrastructure evolves, the focus is shifting from spread capture toward capital efficiency, with institutions prioritizing how capital is allocated and utilized across trading environments.

MiCA and the restructuring of stablecoin liquidity in Europe

Regulatory changes under MiCA regulation are beginning to materially reshape how stablecoin liquidity is distributed across Europe.

With only compliant assets permitted on EU-regulated platforms, parts of the market are undergoing a transition. Certain stablecoins face restrictions or delistings, while regulated alternatives such as USDC and EURC are gaining share. At the same time, stricter requirements around reserves, reporting, and governance are raising the baseline for participation.

For institutional market participants, these changes extend beyond compliance. They directly affect liquidity sourcing, execution quality, and counterparty selection, particularly in a market where depth remains uneven across instruments.

This shift, along with its implications for trading infrastructure and execution, is explored in more detail in our latest guide.

Learn more