TradeDog Market Maker

Key takeaways
Binance showed $38.4M of $ETH depth within 1% of the price. Three Uniswap v3 ETH/USDC pools together showed $4.5M, about 8.5x less. (TDMM measurement, 30 Sep 2026.)A $1M ETH trade moved Binance by 2.7 bps and the largest Uniswap v3 pool by 63.2 bps before fees, about 23x more. At $100k the all-in cost was almost the same, 10.2 vs 11.3 bps.DEX spot volume hit a record 24.2% of CEX spot volume in July 2026 ($176B vs $727B, CoinDesk Data). CEX still carries four times more spot volume.A full-range pool needs about 100x the capital of an order book for the same 2% depth. A passive pool at new-token volatility (166%) loses about 34.4% a year to arbitrage before fees.Most tokens that trade on both need both, run as one book with one reference price.

CEX market making is posting buy and sell limit orders on an exchange order book from one reference price. The market maker earns the spread and maker rebates and carries inventory risk and adverse selection.
DEX market making is supplying and managing liquidity in pools, price ranges, on-chain order books or proprietary AMMs. The market maker earns pool fees and pays arbitrageurs, and carries MEV, contract and stale-range risk.
Depth. On ETH, the spot books on Binance, Kraken, OKX and Coinbase were 2.7 to 8.5x as deep within 1% as three Uniswap v3 pools combined. On $LINK the gap narrowed to 1.7 to 4.0x, because DEX liquidity is split across several thin pools.
Capital. $10,000 of depth a side within 2% takes about $20,000 of resting orders, $2.01M in a full-range pool, or about $98,000 in a range of plus or minus 10% that someone keeps on the price.
Arbitrage. Loss-versus-rebalancing is volatility squared over eight a year: 2.5% at 45% volatility, 34.4% at 166%. A 0.3% pool needs about 31.5% of its value to trade every day to break even at 166%.
Rules. Binance's March 2026 guidelines ask issuers to disclose their market maker's identity and terms and ban profit-sharing and guaranteed-return deals. A DEX has no listing team, so the standard comes from your own contract.
Which one?
One DEX pool, no listing planned: managed DEX liquidity is enoughSeveral pools or chains: DEX market making across poolsFirst CEX listing onward: CEX and DEX together, on one price
TDMM runs CEX and DEX market making as one service across 100+ integrations and 200+ markets, active since 2015, with spread, depth and uptime reported for each venue. We publish this, so read it with that in mind. No price or volume promises.
Full study, method and sources: tdmm.io/insights/blog/cex-vs-dex-market-making
#MarketMaking #CEX #DEX #CryptoLiquidity #DeFi
Not investment, legal or tax advice. TDMM provides the services discussed. Measurements are single-moment snapshots of two tokens (ETH, LINK) on 30 Sep 2026 and exclude Uniswap v4, other DEXs and RFQ liquidity; model figures rest on stated assumptions. Crypto is volatile and you can lose your entire position.

Key takeaways
Once your token trades on a CEX, or on more than one venue, a market maker is the better choice. A seeded DEX pool is enough only while the token lives in one pool.A full-range pool needs about 100x the capital of an order book for the same 2% depth: $2.01M vs $20k for $10k a side.At new-token volatility (166%), a passive pool loses about 34.4% of its value a year to arbitrage before fees.TDMM measured 721 listed tokens on 28 Sep 2026: pool fees covered arbitrage for only 50.5%, and 42.0% below $5M market cap.Most projects need both, run as one book with one reference price.

“Liquidity provider” is a loose word. It can mean a passive LP in a Uniswap pool, a liquidity mining participant, a managed vault, a firm in an exchange’s rebate programme, or an OTC desk. Only a market maker hired by the project promises your token anything: a spread, a depth and an uptime on each venue, written into a contract.
Capital. Lifting a constant-product pool’s price by 2% takes about 0.995% of its stablecoin side. So $10,000 of depth each side within 2% needs a ~$2.01M pool. A concentrated range 10% either side of the price cuts that to ~$98,000, but at 166% volatility an untouched range has a 66% chance of being off the price after a week. Moving it is market making.
Arbitrage. Pools quote stale prices and arbitrageurs trade against them. The loss-versus-rebalancing formula (Milionis et al., 2022) puts it at volatility squared over eight per year: 2.5% at 45% volatility, 34.4% at 166%. Bancor’s Uniswap v3 study found $199.3M of fees against $260.1M of impermanent loss in 2021.
Stress. In a 50% fall, a passive pool spends 29.3% of its stablecoins buying your token. A market maker contract can say widen, pause or hedge.
Live data. Across 163 tokens with mainly constant-product pools, a median $320,560 of pool capital delivered $3,203 of depth within 2%, about the same as the token’s single Gate book ($2,577).
Which to pick
Launchpad or bonding curve: neither yetDEX only, one pool: a managed liquidity providerSeveral pools or chains: a DEX market makerFirst CEX listing onward: a market maker on CEX and DEX, one reference price
Binance’s March 2026 guidelines ask issuers to disclose their market maker and ban profit-sharing deals. Exchange “liquidity provider” programmes are graded on maker volume and set no service level for your token.
TDMM runs market making and liquidity provisioning as one service across 100+ CEX and DEX integrations since 2015, with spread, depth and uptime reported per venue. No price or volume promises.
Full study: tdmm.io/insights/blog/crypto-market-maker-vs-liquidity-provider
#MarketMaking #LiquidityProvider #TokenLaunch #DeFi #CryptoLiquidity
Not investment, legal or tax advice. TDMM provides the services discussed. Model figures rest on stated assumptions; market data are snapshots from 28 Sep 2026. Crypto is volatile and you can lose your entire position.

Key takeaways
The 2026 list: TDMM, Wintermute, GSR, Keyrock, Flowdesk, B2C2, Amber Group, Arrakis, Kairon Labs, Auros, Gravity Team and DWF Labs.For founders, new launches and memecoins, TDMM ranks first. It runs CEX order books and DEX pools as one book.Nearly four in five order books we measured (78.6% of 2,702 on Gate and MEXC) cannot absorb a $10,000 order on one side without moving the price 2%.86.7% of the newest DEX pools on Solana, BNB Chain, Base and Ethereum held under $10,000 of liquidity (716 pools with data).The “free” token loan is not free. At new-listing volatility, its options can be worth about half the loan.Binance’s 25 March 2026 rules ban profit-sharing and guaranteed-profit deals and name six market maker red flags.
The ranking
TDMM: token founders, new launches and memecoins across CEX and DEXWintermute: tier-one launches and deep onchain liquidityGSR: regulated, full-lifecycle institutional mandatesKeyrock: EU issuers that need a MiCA-authorised partnerFlowdesk: market-making-as-a-service with treasury toolsB2C2: OTC depth with KPIs agreed upfrontAmber Group: Asia-focused CEX and DeFi liquidityArrakis: DEX-only tokens on Uniswap-style poolsKairon Labs: small and mid caps across many exchangesAuros: algorithmic liquidity with an issuer programmeGravity Team: automated mid-cap coverageDWF Labs: projects that want market making plus capital
No public league table of market makers exists, because firms don’t disclose comparable volumes. We ranked on things you can check: published coverage, regulatory standing, conduct record, deal transparency, reporting, lifecycle scope, and above all access for new tokens.
CEX vs DEX market makers
A CEX market maker quotes in exchange order books and holds inventory on each exchange. A DEX market maker manages onchain liquidity: pool ranges, issuer vaults, or proprietary AMMs that set their own quote.
DEX market making is a professional job now. CoinGecko’s top-10 DEX to CEX ratio rose from 10.3% in 2024 to 19.3% in 2025. On Solana, five named prop AMMs alone cleared 26.1% of DEX volume over the last 30 days.
The liquidity gap, measured
We captured 2,702 live order books on Gate and MEXC on 26 September 2026. The median spread was 33.6 bps, and 22.6% of books were wider than 1%. Below $100 million in market cap, most books are thin.
What to put in your contract: the top quartile of your tier.
$5M to $25M: 17.1 bps spread and $17,546 of two-sided depth within 2%.$25M to $100M: 11.0 bps and $38,407.Every venue: uptime of at least 95%.
Memecoins: the pool is the thin part
Of the newest DEX pools we sampled, 55.0% held under $1,000. In a $10,000 pool, one $1,000 buy moves the price 44%.
When a memecoin graduates from a launchpad and then lists on a CEX, the pool and the order book need one price. That handover is where a market maker earns its fee.
Red flags
Binance lists six red flags:
selling that conflicts with release schedules;one-sided trading;coordinated sell-offs across platforms;volume that doesn’t match price;price spikes on thin liquidity;volume far bigger than the book.
Gotbit and its founder, CLS Global, and MyTrade MM’s founder have all pleaded guilty in US wash-trading cases. Some of those names still show up in 2026 lists, so check before you sign.
Where TDMM fits
TDMM has been active since 2015, with $10B+ traded, 100+ CEX and DEX integrations and 200+ markets. It covers venues from Binance and OKX to Raydium and four.meme.
TDMM contracts on spread, depth and uptime per venue, and prices the option value of any token loan in dollars before signing. It does not promise a price or a volume number.
Full study with every table and source: tdmm.io/insights/blog/top-crypto-market-makers/
Launching soon? TDMM’s shortlist of the best market makers for new token launches: tdmm.io/best/market-makers-for-new-token-launches
#MarketMaking #CryptoMarketMakers #TokenLaunch #Memecoins #DeFi
Not financial, legal or tax advice. TDMM is a market maker and ranks itself here. Statements about other firms are based on public information as of 26 Sep 2026. Charges are allegations unless a plea or sentence is stated. Market data are single snapshots. Crypto is volatile, and you can lose your entire position.