Driving liquidity and efficiency: The essential role of crypto market makers
As the cryptocurrency market continues to mature, the importance of market makers in maintaining liquidity and stability has grown respectively. Similar to the worldwide trend of increased regulation, market makers are acquiring prominence in the evolving cryptocurrency landscape.
By partnering with exchanges, such as Binance, Coinbase, KuCoin and others, market makers try to reduce spreads in highly liquid markets, benefiting both retail and institutional participants. Cointelegraph Research has compiled a database of about 50 crypto market makers operating worldwide, with detailed information on their activities and focus.
Why are market makers needed?
Market makers play a crucial role in digital asset markets by absorbing sudden fluctuations in supply and demand, stabilizing prices and providing a more predictable trading environment.
However, it is also true that market makers may not always be effective. For example, factors such as speculative trading, limited liquidity and sudden market movements can make it challenging for market makers to mitigate price volatility.
Explore Cointelegraph Research Market Makers Database here
Market makers maintain a presence in the market by simultaneously offering competitive bids and asking prices for a given cryptocurrency. To illustrate, let us consider a scenario where a market maker places a bid to purchase a cryptocurrency at a price of $99 and concurrently sets an ask price to sell the same cryptocurrency at $100. The disparity between these bid and ask prices, commonly referred to as the spread, represents the profit margin captured by the market maker.
Strategies and speculations
Market makers employ advanced algorithmic trading strategies to optimize their operations. These strategies involve analyzing market data, identifying trading opportunities, leveraging technologies and various trading techniques to provide continuous liquidity and respond to market changes effectively.
Also, market makers are not limited to their role of liquidity providers. They can also be market manipulators and possess an in-depth understanding of the market and its patterns, including pending orders, the distribution of volumes and the levels at which stop-losses and take-profits are set.
For example, if Ether’s (ETH) price is steadily rising, a market maker may notice a concentration of stop-loss orders around $2,500, accompanied by limited buyer interest at that level.
To take advantage of this situation, a market maker may enter the market with a significant buying volume between $2,400 and $2,450 and absorb the available counter orders, considering their known volume. Consequently, the price briefly dips to $2,500, triggering the stop-loss orders placed by other traders. Shortly after, Ether experiences a rapid surge, reaching, for example, $2,600. At this point, the market maker will exit the trade.
Staying informed and thriving in the market
Overall, crypto market makers are vital; however, they face a variety of challenges in the crypto space, including regulatory uncertainty, price manipulation concerns and crypto volatility. Especially in the United States, the Securities and Exchange Commission has been actively monitoring the cryptocurrency market, leading to heightened industry problems.
Accordingly, staying up-to-date with the latest industry shifts and strategies is crucial to thriving in the crypto market-making landscape, and the Cointelegraph Research Market Makers Database is here to help.