Benzinga | Aug 17, 2020 12:55PM EDT

These Were The Hottest Companies On OTC Markets In July

Trading volume on OTC Markets remained elevated in July, but activity is slowly moving away from the extreme levels seen in March and April.

Roughly $8.57 billion worth of shares traded on the OTCQX and OTCQB Markets in July, which represents a 9.6% increase from July 2019. However, it was also a 2.8% decrease from June. This falls in-line with the CBOE Volatility Index, which has steadily declined since March (increased trading activity is typically associated with higher volatility).

On the OTCQX Best Market, the top tier of OTC Markets, the most actively traded security in July was the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (OTCQX:GBTC), which typically falls in behind

Roche Holding Ltd (OTCQX:RHHBY). Over $1.4 billion worth of GBTC shares were traded last month.

Other notable securities include Switzerland-based Zurich Insurance Group Ltd (OTCQX:ZURVY), which rose from the 19th-most traded security in June to number four in July, and Shanghai-based Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (OTCQX:SMICY), which rose from 13 to six.

The Top 10 Most Active Securities on OTCQX in July

Company Symbol Country July Dollar Volume

Grayscale Bitcoin Trust GBTC USA $1,425,579,936

Roche Holding Ltd RHHBY Switzerland$983,485,244

Grayscale Ethereum Trust ETHE USA $319,269,130

Zurich Insurance Group Ltd. ZURVY Switzerland$244,601,211

BNP Paribas BNPQY France $158,357,984

Semiconductor Manufacturing InternationalSMICY China $123,190,516 Corp.

Danone DANOY France $105,072,497

Curaleaf Holdings Inc. CURLF USA $103,098,931

Trulieve Cannabis Corporation TCNNF USA $95,085,574

adidas AG ADDYY Germany $93,760,733

Beyond those two names, one other theme stood out in July--the rally in a specific group of cannabis companies.

For several months, a number of U.S.-based cannabis companies have outperformed the rest of the industry. This group includes Curaleaf Holdings Inc. (OTCQX:CURLF), Trulieve Cannabis Corporation (OTCQX:TCNNF), Cresco Labs Inc. (OTCQX:CRLBF), and Planet 13 Holdings Inc. (OTCQX:PLNHF).

Buoyed by the fact that many dispensaries were labeled essential businesses during the pandemic, investors may be anticipating the eventual federal decriminalization of cannabis in the U.S., and are therefore looking to companies with strong operations and reasonable valuations. All four of the companies above trade on OTCQX and have rallied between 250-420% since March.

That rise in share price has also correlated with a rise in dollar volume. In July, dollar volume in shares of those four companies rose an average of 80% from June.

Month-Over-Month Dollar Volume Increase

Curaleaf 117%

Trulieve 101%

Planet 13 82%

Cresco Labs21%

On the OTCQB Venture Market, home to more early stage companies, CytoDyn Inc. (OTCQB:CYDY) was once again the most actively traded security, with over $1 billion worth of shares trading hands. Nextech AR Solutions Corp. (OTCQB:NEXCF) had the second most dollar volume of any security on the market in July, as its shares rose as much as 109% during the month.

The Top 10 Most Active Securities on OTCQB in July

Company SymbolCountryJuly Dollar Volume

CytoDyn Inc. CYDY USA $1,022,203,835

Nextech AR Solutions Corp. NEXCF Canada $201,678,662

Fannie Mae FNMA USA $136,703,153

American Lithium Corp. LIACF Canada $84,676,983

Humanigen, Inc. HGEN USA $50,231,840

TOMI Environmental Solutions, Inc.TOMZ USA $47,926,625

Freddie Mac FMCC USA $44,929,605

TPT Global Tech, Inc. TPTW USA $42,735,436

Vystar Corp. VYST USA $34,183,203

Axim Biotechnologies, Inc. AXIM USA $33,626,719