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What Is Pre-Market Token Trading? OTC Deals Before TGE, Explained

Before a token is listed on any exchange, people already trade it: airdrop allocations, points expected to convert into tokens, presale positions and testnet rewards. These are pre-market, or OTC, deals. Sellers lock in a price early; buyers get exposure before listing.

How a pre-market deal works

  1. The seller lists a price per token (for example $0.0048), the amount for sale and a delivery deadline that covers the token launch (TGE).
  2. A buyer picks how many tokens to take, from the seller's minimum order up to the whole lot, and pays. On Zeus OTC that payment sits in escrow in USDT or USDC.
  3. When the tokens become transferable, the seller sends them on-chain and posts the transaction hash in the deal room.
  4. The buyer checks the transfer on a block explorer and confirms. The seller is paid.

If the seller can't deliver by the deadline, the buyer cancels and is refunded from escrow. Unshipped deals also refund automatically 72 hours after the deadline.

Where the risk is

  • Counterparty risk: without escrow, one side must trust the other for weeks or months. Escrow removes most of it.
  • Project risk: the token may launch late, at a different supply, or not at all. Escrow can't fix that; a deadline with margin and official announcements help.
  • Contract risk: fake tokens with the same ticker exist. Always confirm the contract address from the project's official channels before confirming delivery.

Setting the deadline

Pick a deadline after the expected TGE, with margin. Zeus OTC allows up to 6 months. If the launch moves, agree in the deal room what happens before the deadline passes.

Points vs tokens

Points markets trade expectations of a future airdrop. Settlement depends on how points convert, which the project decides. Each listing says exactly what is sold and how it's transferred: tokens after TGE, tokens that already exist, points moved inside the project's app, or a wallet handover.

Browse pre-market tokens, or sell an allocation through pre-market escrow.

What Is Pre-Market Token Trading? OTC Deals Before TGE, Explained | Zeus OTC