Three execution venues, three different worlds. If you're buying USDT in India, you'll mostly use P2P — but understanding what spot and OTC look like sharpens your read of why P2P prices behave the way they do.
Spot — exchange-as-counterparty
Spot trading is the order book everyone first learns. You place a limit or market order, the exchange matches you against another order, and crypto/quote-currency move within the exchange's wallets. Fees are per-trade (usually 0.1%), execution is sub-second, and counterparty risk = the exchange itself.
For USDT/INR, India has no large spot market. WazirX's INR pair is thin and the exchange is operationally damaged after the July 2024 hack. Foreign exchanges don't list USDT/INR as spot at all.
OTC — broker-mediated, large-size
OTC desks exist for traders who'd move the order book if they tried to use it. You ask the desk for a quote on, say, 5 BTC, they reply with a price valid for 30 seconds, and settlement is bilateral — wire transfer, swift, or stablecoin against the desk's wallet. Spreads are tight on size; minimum tickets are usually $25k-$50k.
In India, OTC is mostly used for cross-border settlements — exporters parking USD revenue in stablecoins, family-office crypto allocations. It's not retail.
P2P — person-to-person with escrow
P2P is what happens when there's no spot pair. The exchange acts as a trustless intermediary: holds the crypto, displays an order book of merchant ads, and arbitrates disputes. You pay INR off-platform — UPI, IMPS, bank transfer — and the exchange releases the crypto.
Fees are zero on most P2P platforms (the merchant builds them into the spread instead). Settlement is minutes, not seconds. Counterparty risk is split: crypto-side is exchange-guaranteed, INR-side is the merchant's reliability.
Frequently asked
- Can I use OTC for retail-size trades?
- Most OTC desks have $25k+ minimums and prefer regulated counterparties. Below that, P2P is cheaper and faster.
- Is spot trading dead in India?
- Crypto-vs-crypto spot (USDT/BTC, ETH/USDT) on foreign exchanges is alive and deep. INR-quoted spot is the broken piece.
Key takeaways
- Spot is exchange-as-counterparty; OTC is broker-mediated; P2P is escrowed peer-to-peer.
- USDT/INR has no real spot market in India — P2P is the working venue.
- P2P fees are usually zero on platform; the merchant earns via the spread.
