Choosing a Venue When the Sale Is Large
Onboarding, depth, settlement and records. The criteria for a venue you will use once for something significant.
A venue used to accumulate is not necessarily the right venue to realise a position through. The criteria differ.
First: will they take the deposit and the size
A provider publishing its terms makes a long-term decision checkable, and a licensed crypto exchange with corporate accounts does.
Some venues apply deposit limits that a long-accumulated position exceeds.
Some will not price a sale of that size on the book, which is a depth question rather than a policy one.
Confirm both before moving anything.
Second: depth in the asset
Sum the resting liquidity within half a percent of mid, at the times you would trade.
If your amount is a large fraction of it, the venue is the wrong tool regardless of its other qualities and a desk quote is the correct route.
Third: settlement
Which currencies, to which countries, in which account name.
Matching the settlement currency to your bank account removes a conversion margin of typically half a percent to two percent, which on a large sale exceeds every other cost combined. At institutional scale the requirements multiply, which is what a corporate crypto wallet is structured for.
Fourth: the verification tier you hold there
A large sale will exceed the cumulative ceilings that small regular purchases never approached.
Complete the highest tier, including source of funds, before moving the position rather than after.
Fifth: records
An export containing quantity, timestamp, currency value at the time, the rate source and fees separated.
For a disposal of any size this is the document every subsequent calculation depends on.
Sixth: authorisation
Which authority, which permissions, verified on the register.
Relevant here mostly for the period the position sits at the venue between deposit and settlement, which for a large sale should be as short as possible.
The sequence that works
Complete verification. Do a small test deposit and withdrawal. Confirm the settlement route to your bank. Notify your bank. Then move the position and execute.
Each step removes a failure mode that would otherwise appear at the worst moment, and the whole sequence takes about a week of elapsed time with almost no active effort. To see all of this in an operating product rather than in the abstract, the list of countries covered publishes the terms.
This is a personal account of holding through market cycles. It describes what one person did and why. It is not a recommendation, and past cycles do not predict future ones.