Programme Three
Crypto off-ramps: spend cards and OTC exits
Two jobs, two rails. A card if you are spending it. An OTC desk if you are exiting a block into a bank. Work out which job you have, then ask for an introduction.
At a glance
- Rails
- 2
- Spend path
- Agora Cards
- Exit path
- OTC matchmaking
- Typical OTC tickets
- From ~$50k
The Playbook
A layered stack.
Self-custody core
Long-term holdings never sit on an exchange.
Spending wallet
A separate hot wallet holding this month, nothing more.
Rail
Card if you are spending it. OTC if you are exiting it.
Jurisdiction
The issuer or desk plus your residency decide which records exist.
The Two Rails
Spend, or exit.
Featured partner route
Agora Cards.
Agora is the spend rail. It is a USDT and USDC card working with licensed card providers. Sign-up needs an email address and an invite code. Every account gets a non-custodial wallet, so you only move onto the card what you actually intend to spend and keep the rest in your own custody.
The two cards
Virtual
$90
- $10 starting credit included
- Instant issue
- Google and Apple Pay
- 3 years / $1m validity
Physical
$500
- 48-72 hour shipping from the EU or US
- 4 year validity
- Only card with ATM withdrawals
Limits, both cards
- $20,000 per transaction
- $240,000 per day, $900,000 per month
- ATM: $1,500 per day, $15,000 per month, physical only
What it actually costs
- 2% to top up
- 1.5% FX, plus $0.35 (virtual) or $0.10 (physical) per transaction
- 2% on ATM withdrawals
- Roughly 5% all in, closer to 7% if you use the ATM
Do not treat it as a bank account. Gambling, sports betting, crypto purchases, petrol, gaming credits, military supply, non-profits and government agencies are blocked merchant categories, and a list of sanctioned countries cannot be served at all. The card network still sees where you spend.
Sign up with an email and an invite code (mine is AGORA3078)
Choose a virtual card or a physical card; virtual is instant, physical is the only one that works at ATMs
Load your own non-custodial wallet, then move only what you plan to spend onto the card
Spend in USD, converted to the local currency at the till; a one-time SMS code is needed once to activate a card
Agora Cards is an affiliate partner · I may earn a fee
Private matching
OTC off-ramp matchmaking.
Licensed desks · names shared only after a brief
OTC is the exit rail. A licensed desk quotes the block, runs its own KYC and source-of-funds review, and settles into a bank wire. I do not publish a desk roster. I take your brief, route you to one counterparty, and stay out of the trade.
Use it for
- Typical tickets from ~$50k upward
- BTC, ETH, USDT, USDC into USD / EUR / CHF / GBP / SGD
- Proceeds that need to land in a bank without an exchange order book
Do not treat it as
- No-documents liquidity
- A quote engine I operate
- A way to skip reporting you already owe
How matching works
- 01
You send a brief
Size band, asset, fiat corridor, client type, one-line source of funds.
- 02
I triage
Fit, corridor, and whether a desk can actually bank the wire.
- 03
You get one introduction
Not a public list, not a bidding war.
- 04
The desk onboards you
KYC, wallet screening, source of funds, then a quote and settlement with them.
I may decline. Usually because the ticket is below desk minimums, there is no receiving bank, the timeline assumes compliance does not exist, or the brief is simply not placeable.
Introduction only · I do not name desks on this page · I may be compensated by a desk if a relationship exists · pricing should not change because you came through me
Matching Policy
What I will and will not match.
Will match (if the brief is placeable)
- Individuals or companies
- Documentable source of funds
- Settlement to a named bank corridor
- Tickets in a desk's real range
Will not match
- No documents / “need this done this week with nothing”
- Cash or informal settlement
- Sanctioned nexus
- Sub-minimum retail tickets that belong on a card
- A request to auction the same brief to multiple desks
If your real blocker is the receiving account, start on the offshore banking page instead. No OTC desk can fix a bank that will not take the wire.
The Fine Print
- 01I introduce. I do not custody, quote, or settle.
- 02Any serious desk will run KYC, sanctions checks, and a source-of-funds review. Expect it.
- 03OTC desks create records. Nobody is invisible there.
- 04Minimums, assets, corridors, and timelines depend on the desk, not on me.
- 05Educational content only. Not financial, tax, legal, or brokerage advice. Agora is an affiliate. OTC compensation, if any, is disclosed at introduction.
From The Library · Module 04
Cryptocurrency as the Backbone.
Cryptocurrency becomes monetary sovereignty only when it is held in genuine self-custody, hardened against physical as well as digital attack, and planned for inheritance.
Read Module 045 min read · part of the nine-module briefing series
Private Introduction
Request an introduction
Tell me the job. Spend briefs go toward Agora. Exit briefs go to one licensed desk if I can place them. No shared lead lists.
Response target 48 hours. If this is a spend job, I may point you to Agora. If this is an OTC job, you get one introduction or a decline with a reason. I am not a party to any trade. Do not send wallet addresses, passport scans, account statements, seed phrases, or transaction hashes.