Market making and token liquidity, supervised from the issuer's side of the table.
Most token failures are liquidity failures dressed up as something else. We select the market maker, negotiate the term sheet, sequence listing-day depth and hold the MM to written, weekly KPIs across every CEX and DEX you trade on. Independent — we do not act as principal MM and we do not take rebates from MMs.
Four pillars of a liquidity programme.
Vetted market-maker panel
A capital-tested shortlist across CEX and DEX venues with real KPI history — depth, spread, uptime, inventory behaviour. Not a pitch deck, not a referral kickback.
Term-sheet negotiation
Loan-and-option, retainer, working-capital, hybrid — modelled against your float, treasury risk and post-listing scenarios. The default term sheet is rarely the right one.
Listing-day depth
We sequence MM activation, exchange paperwork and inventory flows so the book is live at the open. Most chart damage in the first month is irreversible.
Ongoing supervision
Written weekly KPIs: spread bands, depth at ±1% and ±2%, uptime, abnormal-trade reporting. Underperformance triggers contractual remediation, not polite emails.
Venue, programme and firm references
Working briefings on every major exchange MM programme, head-to-head comparisons of the firms issuers shortlist, and the KPI playbooks we use day-to-day.
What Binance actually expects from a market maker: VIP volume thresholds, MM+ programme criteria, spread and uptime KPIs, and how issuers structure a panel that qualifies.
Bybit's LP and MM programmes: derivatives-first rebate structure, spot maker tiers, and what new listings should expect from the venue's house book.
How OKX's VIP, MM and institutional tiers stack — and what a new listing should negotiate before signing a market-making term sheet for the venue.
Coinbase Advanced (formerly Pro) MM programme economics: rebate eligibility, the institutional desk, and how US-regulated venue dynamics change MM structure.
Kraken's MM tiers, qualifying volume, and how the venue's US/EU regulatory footprint shapes a market-making mandate for issuers targeting Western liquidity.
KuCoin MM tiers, rebate schedule, and the role the venue plays for newly listed long-tail tokens chasing depth in retail-heavy order flow.
Bitget's MM tiers and listings economics — derivatives-skewed venue with aggressive rebates for firms that can warehouse perp risk.
What a credible MM panel looks like in the first 90 days after listing: warm-up KPIs, panel sizing, and avoiding the common single-MM trap.
AMM vs CLOB market making for DeFi tokens, concentrated liquidity strategies, and bridging on-chain depth with centralized listings.
What issuers and listings desks actually ask.
When should a token issuer engage a market-making advisor?
Four to eight weeks before listing for a new token launch. Immediately if you are already live and the book is thin, spreads are blowing out, or your MM has gone dark. The cost of fixing a damaged chart is always higher than the cost of getting day one right.
What's the difference between a market maker and a market-making advisor?
A market maker quotes both sides of your book using their own balance sheet. An advisor sits on your side of the term sheet — selecting the MM, negotiating the economics, designing the KPIs and holding the MM accountable. We do not act as principal MM and we do not accept rebates from MMs.
Which exchanges do you cover for market-making programmes?
Binance, Bybit, OKX, Coinbase, Kraken, Bitget, Gate.io, KuCoin, Bitfinex, HTX, MEXC and the major regional venues across Asia and the Gulf. DEX coverage spans Uniswap v3/v4, Curve, Balancer, Raydium, Orca and PancakeSwap. See the working reference for venue-specific MM programmes.
Loan-and-option, retainer, or working-capital model — which structure is right?
It depends on float, treasury posture, and how much downside you can absorb on the option strike. Loan-and-option is the industry default but is often the most expensive structure on a fully-loaded basis. Retainer plus performance is usually better for issuers with healthy treasury. We model all three before recommending one.
Can you replace an underperforming market maker mid-cycle?
Yes, and we frequently do. We run the parallel onboarding so the book is never naked during the transition, and we negotiate the unwind of the existing loan-and-option in a way that protects the treasury.
Do you work with CEX listings teams as well as issuers?
Yes — listings desks engage us to design liquidity programmes, evaluate MM panel proposals from prospective issuers, and benchmark the pair-by-pair quality of their existing market-making relationships. See the exchange advisory practice for the full venue-side mandate.
How is this priced?
A fixed advisory retainer for the engagement plus, on selection mandates, a success-based component tied to the MM agreement. We quote in writing after a confidential 30-minute partner call. No pitch deck, no obligation.
Do you publish a comparison of the major market makers?
Yes — head-to-head comparisons of Wintermute, GSR, Flowdesk, Cumberland, B2C2, Amber and other firms our clients shortlist, plus venue-specific programme deep-dives. See the working reference linked below.
Liquidity rarely stands alone
All services →Listings governance, MM panel design and institutional onboarding for CEX operators.
Treasury, settlement and stablecoin on/off-ramp banking for issuers, MMs and OTC desks.
The issuing entity, foundation or SPV — designed alongside the listing and the MM programme.
A confidential read on your book, in writing.
A 30-minute partner call covering your token's current order-book state, MM relationships, exchange roadmap and treasury posture. We leave you with a written read on what to keep, what to renegotiate and what to replace. No pitch deck.