How does an RFQ work at a UAE OTC desk?

An RFQ at a UAE OTC desk moves through four stages: request, pricing, a written quote, and acceptance or expiry. The desk's spread for your size is known in advance — ours sits in the published pricing bands — so the RFQ confirms a number, it does not discover one.

1. STEP 1

   You send the request

   You state the asset, direction and size — for example, "sell 500,000 USDT for AED". Your account must already be approved, which is why the onboarding step is best done a day before you need to trade.

2. STEP 2

   The desk prices your size

   A dealer checks the current market, applies the spread for your ticket and hedging cost, and builds one price for the full amount. During dealing hours (Sunday to Thursday, 09:00–18:00 GST) an answer comes within the hour.

3. STEP 3

   You receive a written quote

   The quote states the rate, the total in AED or USD, the fees included (none separately — the price is all-in) and the validity window. Nothing moves until you accept.

4. STEP 4

   You accept, or the quote expires

   Accept inside the window and the trade is fixed at that price: you send USDT, the desk wires AED or USD to an account in your own name. Let the window lapse and the quote is simply withdrawn.

How long is an RFQ quote valid?

An RFQ quote is valid only for the window stated in it — across the industry, windows are typically a matter of seconds — desks that publish theirs commonly state around ten seconds — because the desk hedges its own exposure the moment you accept and cannot hold a price it cannot hedge. Once the window closes, the price is gone.

A short window is not pressure; it is arithmetic. The honest version of a long window is a wider spread, because the desk charges for the risk of the market moving while you think. A licensed desk puts the window in writing — a countdown timer on a screen with nothing in writing is a sales tactic. Before trading with any counterparty, run the one-minute check from our licence section: a real licence number resolves in the VARA public register.

Why does the RFQ matter when you sell USDT?

The RFQ matters when you sell USDT because it converts an uncertain execution into a fixed one. On an exchange, a 500,000 USDT sell walks down the order book: part fills at one price, part at another, and the average is only known afterwards. An RFQ gives you the average — one all-in number — before you commit anything.

That certainty is the core of how selling USDT in Dubai works at a licensed desk: written quote first, USDT transfer second, bank wire third. It also makes two desks comparable: ask each for an RFQ on the same size and the better all-in price wins, regardless of how either advertises its fees.

An RFQ in numbers: selling 500,000 USDT

A worked RFQ example for selling 500,000 USDT, as of September 2026. The AED has been pegged to the US dollar at 3.6725 since 1997, and USDT tracks the dollar, so the gross value is near-constant — the moving part is the spread, which is also why the USDT–AED rate sits at 3.67.

• Gross value: 500,000 × 3.6725 = AED 1,836,250.
• Spread at 0.15% for this size: AED 2,754.
• Quoted all-in rate: 3.6670 AED per USDT.
• Net wired to your account: AED 1,833,496.

The RFQ quote states exactly this: the rate, the AED total, the window. If the market moves while you decide, the quote expires and the next RFQ re-prices — the desk never adjusts an accepted quote after the fact.

This guide is informational and is not legal, tax or investment advice, nor an invitation to buy or sell any virtual asset. Rules and figures are as of September 2026 — re-check the sources before acting. Virtual assets may lose their value in full or in part and are subject to extreme volatility.