Market Making as a Service (MMaaS)

Market making as a service (MMaaS) describes arrangements in which a crypto project or exchange hires a specialist trading firm to provide continuous buy and sell quotes for a token, keeping spreads narrow and the order book deep. It differs from independent market making, where firms trade on their own account. Common deal structures include a monthly retainer, or a loan of tokens from the project to the firm paired with options to buy them later at set prices. Such deals can help a new token list on exchanges and avoid wild price swings. They also carry risks: the terms are rarely disclosed, option structures can encourage the firm to sell heavily, and some providers have offered illegal wash trading to inflate volume. In October 2024 US authorities charged several such firms with market manipulation for token issuers.