25 April 2025
Crypto market makers: always essential, occasionally controversial, frequently misunderstood. It’s a thankless task, but market makers – or MMs as it’s easier to say – aren’t in it for the plaudits. They treat their duty as a business, cos that’s exactly what it is: the business of keeping crypto markets ticking over around the clock.
In practical terms, this means supplying the liquidity and matching the bids and asks to ensure there’s always a buyer or seller available. And while a tranche of crypto traders will continue to misunderstand the role that MMs play, the token projects that enlist their services understand the vital role of market makers – particularly on decentralized exchanges, where liquidity is typically lower than on their centralized counterparts.
As for assessing the capabilities of the best market makers currently doing their thing on crypto’s frontlines, it’s not as simple as tallying up partner count and exchange integrations. While these metrics are worthy of consideration, they don’t capture the full picture. Qualitative factors such as service quality and client support are just as vital in determining which market makers are awesome and which are merely mediocre. Through combining measurable data with intangible strengths, however, we’ve identified the best crypto market makers in 2025, and they are as follows…
Cumberland
Cumberland, a division of DRW Trading, brings a level of maturity to the crypto market-making space that’s hard to match. It’s the suit-and-tied, serious businessman in the room: here to talk numbers, not shill your latest memecoin. Since entering the crypto scene in 2014, the Chicago-based Cumberland has become a trusted partner for institutional players seeking deep liquidity. Its tailored market-making solutions can be applied to assets ranging from Bitcoin to emerging altcoins.
Specializing in OTC trades and large-block transactions, Cumberland caters to hedge funds, exchanges, token projects, and anyone else needing to execute high-volume trades without crashing the market. Its robust risk management practices have kept it free from the pitfalls that less seasoned market makers have occasionally fallen afoul of. Known for its steady, unflappable approach, Cumberland ensures order book stability even during volatile market conditions, making it the preferred choice for institutions that need a professional market maker to get the job done reliably and while ticking all the right regulatory boxes.
DWF Labs
DWF Labs is a veritable heavyweight in crypto market making, which remains its bread and butter despite its flourishing advisory and OTC services. Its core strength lies in providing liquidity for a vast network of over 700 partners. Indeed, we’re fast approaching a stage where it’s easier to list the projects that haven’t utilized DWF at some stage for MM purposes. DWF Labs are everywhere, and have rightly earned a rep as the industry’s most reliable market maker, keeping the order books ticking over whatever the macro outlook.
Operating across more than 60 centralized and decentralized exchanges, DWF Labs ensures tight bid-ask spreads for tokens ranging from micro-caps to majors and from memecoins to established blue chips. Beyond liquidity, DWF Labs offers a comprehensive suite of web3 services, allowing its clients to combine its market-making with VC investments or short-term liquidity to support token launches. This holistic approach makes it a go-to for emerging projects that don’t just need liquidity, but also an experienced shoulder to lean on and support them through a critical stage of their life cycle.
Vortex
Vortex is a lesser-known but no less accomplished market maker, with its proprietary algorithms giving it the edge when it comes to efficiently narrowing that all-important bid-ask spread. In volatile markets, Vortex’s tech has proven adept at handling turbulence, dampening volatility while deepening liquidity for its clients. As a newer player in the market making sector, Vortex is eager to please, which means going the extra mile to keep its clients content.
In addition to optimizing liquidity across more than 50 integrated exchanges, Vortex offers arbitrage services and helps projects ensure exchange listings at a discounted rate. It’s got the connections, it’s got the willpower, and when it comes to market making, it’s got the algos that will allow traders and token projects alike to maximize value from every swap.
Wintermute
Wintermute is a market-making veteran and remains a major player, boasting a lifetime trading volume of more than $600 billion. Active on over 50 CEXs and DEXs, including giants like Coinbase, Kraken, and Uniswap, Wintermute operates seamlessly behind the scenes to keep markets liquid and efficient. While its largest volumes come from tier-one CEXs, Wintermute also supports onchain liquidity for the likes of dYdX perpetual futures and Uniswap pools.
Its proprietary algorithms, though kept under wraps, are widely respected for maintaining market flow during challenging conditions. Wintermute’s understated confidence and reliability have earned it an unmatched reputation, making it a crypto market cornerstone. While capable of occasionally running into controversy, when you zoom out, Wintermute has been a net good for DeFi and CeFi since its inception.
GSR
London loves churning out crypto market makers, and GSR is a prime example of the city’s influence on global markets. GSR is plugged into over 60 exchanges and provides liquidity for a combination of emerging token projects and established digital assets. Its decade-long presence in the industry has given it the expertise to adroitly navigate the complexities of crypto markets. Through bull times and bear, GSR’s seen it all and kept its clients ticking over with the liquidity they need to make it through the next cycle and beyond.
GSR earns kudos for its transparency, offering clients daily reports with detailed KPIs and performance metrics. This openness ensures projects are kept in the loop on everything from order book depth to slippage rates. Through focusing on fair price discovery and narrow bid-ask spreads, GSR gets the job done efficiently while keeping its head below the water. Like the best market makers, it understands that its job is to swerve the limelight, allowing its clients to shine.
Amber Group
Amber Group has some impressive stats to its name: $5 billion in daily volume across 200+ tokens, which account for over 3% of global crypto trading activity. With one foot in CeFi and the other DeFi, Amber Group straddles the industry like a colossus, combining high uptime with efficient algorithms to deliver deep liquidity. Its team of sharp minds adds intellectual heft to its operations, making it a formidable player in the market-making space.
Like DWF Labs, Amber Group offers a full suite of web3 services, from advisory support for token issuance to lifecycle management. Launching a token is a complex endeavor, and Amber Group’s expertise helps projects navigate this process with precision, ensuring a successful rollout and sustained market activity. For teams seeking a seasoned partner they can rely on through thick and thin, Amber Group has got it locked down.
Liquidity Is King
Market makers aren’t in the business of inflating or deflating token prices: they’re here to provide the liquidity that sets the stage for everything else. Their support for buy and sell orders enables price discovery, helps to grow volume, and provides the sort of round-the-clock action that prompts listings on larger exchanges. In theory, you could go it alone and launch a token without a market maker onboard. But unless you’ve hit upon a viral memecoin that’s headed to a billion, or devised a radical new liquidity-growing tokenomic model, your odds of making it into the next month sans MM are vanishingly small.
Market makers may not be mandatory, but they’re highly recommended. They serve a stabilizing force during those critical early days, helping projects weather the initial volatility and build a foundation for long-term growth. No market maker, no moon. Choosing to employ the services of a market maker is thus a no-brainer. Choosing which market maker to utilize is harder – but the foregoing six should form your starting point for reaching the right decision.
Image by Matthias Wewering from Pixabay