InsiderFlow › Glossary › What are OTC markets?
OTC (over the counter) means trading outside regulated exchanges: direct deals between parties, with fewer rules and less transparency.
OTC markets trade securities that don't meet (or don't want) official listing requirements: penny stocks, delisted companies, many foreign shares, and the vast majority of derivatives and bonds. Prices form between dealers, not in a public centralized order book.
For retail investors, the best-known corner is OTC penny stocks: minimal liquidity, huge spreads, scarce information and frequent "pump and dump" scams. Terrain to avoid without experience.
On InsiderFlow these concepts come alive on real data: what big funds and insiders are buying, explained every day.
No: it's a legal, enormous market (currency trading and most bonds are OTC). But for stocks, fewer rules means more risk.
Unknown ticker, aggressive social media promotion, sudden volume: the scheme has repeated identically for decades.