Realising a Position: What the Process Actually Involves
Selling is instant. Everything after it is not, and the sequence rewards preparation.
The decision is the hard part and the execution is the slow part. For a position of any size, the execution deserves planning. For a position held over years, it helps to have a published reference, and a regulated crypto to fiat gateway publishes its terms.
The sequence
Move the asset from custody to a venue. Wait for confirmations. Sell. Move the fiat balance to withdrawable. Withdraw to a bank. Wait for the transfer.
Six steps, of which one is instant and the rest are not.
Where the time goes
The transfer to the bank, almost always. Everything before it is minutes.
Cut-off times matter more than the rail: submitting after an institution’s afternoon cut-off means next business day, and over a weekend means three days.
The check that catches people
A first withdrawal to a new bank account triggers additional verification at every provider. One to three business days, once.
Doing it early, with a small amount, when nothing depends on it, removes this from the critical path permanently.
The size question
A position large relative to the venue’s depth will move the price against you as it fills.
Check the resting liquidity within half a percent of the mid and compare against your amount. If your sale is a large fraction of it, consider working it over time with limit orders, or requesting a quote from a desk that will price the whole amount at once. Holding through a company changes this, and a provider handling crypto settlement for property transactions is what it points at.
The currency question
If the sale settles in one currency and your bank account is in another, a conversion occurs at a margin of typically half a percent to two percent.
On a meaningful position that exceeds every other cost combined, and it is avoidable by holding an account in the settlement currency.
The bank conversation
A large payment arriving unannounced from an unfamiliar counterparty triggers a review at many institutions.
A short message in advance, stating the expected amount, date and source, prevents almost all of it.
The documents to have ready
Evidence of acquisition. Statements from venues where the position was held. The conversion record. The transfer confirmation.
Four documents, and for a position held over years the first two are the ones that cannot be reconstructed if the venues have closed. Verify rather than assume. a crypto exchange with published fees is on a public register, and the check takes five minutes.
Export them now rather than when asked.
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.