Crypto protocols never disclose market maker terms, research findings.
A review of over 150 major crypto protocols shows that despite their central role in token trading, disclosure of market structures is almost non-existent.
Research conducted by crypto consulting firm Novora found that less than 1% of protocols disclosed any terms related to market makers. Out of the entire dataset, only one protocol, the decentralized liquidity platform Meteora, was found to have publicly disclosed its market structure, citing the project's 2025 Annual Tokenholder Report.
The study covers leading sectors including decentralized exchanges, lending platforms, perpetual futures, layer-1 and layer-2 networks, bridges, and centralized exchange tokens, with protocols ranging in size from $40 million to $45 billion at a fully netted valuation.
Novora said the protocols were reviewed using a binary transparency framework that covers disclosure practices and third-party data coverage, and by checking public sources including Artemis, Token Terminal, Dune, Defilama and Blockworks Research.
Novara founder Conor King wrote on X that “this is the only high transparency gap in the industry,” where such material deals are routinely revealed in traditional markets. “In crypto, every market participant works without this information,” he said.
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Crypto investor gap reported
The findings highlight the wide investor relations (IR) gap in crypto. Ninety-one percent of the protocols Novara reviewed generate realizable income, but only 18% published quarterly updates and only 8% provided token holding reports, suggesting that the information is available but rarely packaged into structured investor communications.
At the same time, third-party analytics infrastructure has matured, with coverage on major platforms exceeding 85%, with underlying data widely accessible but less formal in reporting.
Sector-level breakdowns show uneven transparency. As sustainable futures protocols and decentralized exchanges drive disclosure and value aggregation mechanisms, L1 and infrastructure projects lag behind despite large market capitalizations.
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Market maker agreements attract scrutiny
Opaque market-making arrangements have long fueled scrutiny in crypto, particularly around token lending structures that critics say can create an incentive to dump borrowed tokens on the market. The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has previously charged so-called crypto market makers with price manipulation.
As Cointelegraph reports, some market-making arrangements are poorly structured and can quickly turn harmful. One widely used arrangement, the “loan option model,” involves lending projects to market makers who then deploy them for liquidity and commercial activity, often tied to a list of deals.
In practice, critics argue that this structure can create a strong incentive to sell borrowed tokens into the market, triggering price declines that benefit the market maker and harm early-stage projects with weakened liquidity and token performance.
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