What Is Dark Pool?

A dark pool is a private trading venue where large orders are matched without being visible on public order books. In traditional finance, dark pools exist to prevent large orders from moving markets. In crypto, OTC desks and some institutional platforms serve a similar function. While dark pool trades are harder to detect, the subsequent on-chain settlement of these trades is visible on blockchain explorers and Sonar Tracker. Large, oddly-sized transfers between known institutional wallets often indicate dark pool execution.