Crypto Market Makers: The Firms Behind Every Trade You Take

Market makers are firms that provide liquidity to crypto exchanges by continuously placing buy and sell orders. These firms, including Wintermute, Jump Crypto, GSR, and DWF Labs, collectively handle billions of dollars in daily volume across centralized and decentralized venues.

The largest market makers profit primarily from the bid-ask spread, which is the difference between the price at which they buy and sell a token. This spread can be as low as one or two basis points on liquid pairs like BTC/USDT, but can be much wider for smaller altcoins.

Token projects often pay market makers significant sums to provide liquidity at launch, with agreements including token loan arrangements that give market makers influence over a token's price trajectory. The same firms that provide essential liquidity also operate in a largely unregulated environment where the line between market making and market manipulation remains undefined.