Helen is Marketing Team Lead at Motion Trade with 4+ years in Web3 and crypto marketing. Before joining Motion Trade, she built and led the marketing function at CLS Global and managed social media campaigns for a portfolio of crypto clients at Ninja Promo. She specializes in turning complex trading products into clear stories.
Most centralised exchanges do not list "has a market maker" as a formal condition, but in practice a token without one rarely gets through review and almost never stays listed for long. Listing teams ask how the order book will be supplied from the first minute of trading, which pairs will be quoted, and what depth and spread the project expects to hold. After launch, the same exchanges monitor spread, depth and trading activity and move weak tokens into warning zones: MEXC can tag a token whose average daily spread stays above 2 percent for fifteen consecutive days, and KuCoin's Special Treatment rules name "low liquidity for a certain period" as a reason for observation and possible delisting. A project can, in principle, run its own quoting. The real question is whether it can do so continuously, across venues and through volatile days, without the infrastructure, inventory management and accountability that a professional desk provides.
Founders often ask this question in the weeks before their first listing, usually because a market making quote has just arrived and looks expensive. It is a fair question. Nothing in a typical exchange agreement says "you must sign with a market maker", and some teams launch without one. This article explains what exchanges actually look at, what happens to a token whose book nobody is responsible for, and when a project can reasonably manage without an external desk.
What exchanges actually ask for
Exchange listing forms differ, but the questions about liquidity are remarkably consistent. Across the venues we covered in exchange listing requirements in 2026, listing teams want to know:
- Who will provide liquidity. Gate's review looks for a liquidity plan that names the market making partner, the pairs and the depth targets, as described in our Gate listing requirements guide.
- How the launch will be supplied. Airdrops, launchpool rewards and early investor allocations all reach the book in the first days, and exchanges want to see that someone has sized depth for that flow.
- What metrics the project expects to hold. Spread and depth targets per pair, ideally with a measurement method.
- Whether the team understands the venue's monitoring rules. Exchanges would rather list a token that will not need a warning tag in its second month.
None of this formally requires a third-party desk. It requires a credible answer, and for most projects the credible answer is a contract with a professional market maker. A plan that says "our community will provide liquidity" does not reassure a listing team that has delisted dozens of tokens this year.
What happens after listing without a market maker
The first days of trading are where an empty book shows. Without anyone quoting both sides, the spread is set by whoever happens to place limit orders, depth is thin, and ordinary sell orders move the price several percent. We walk through this step by step in what happens to a token with no market maker, but the short version is that the token becomes expensive to trade, new buyers hesitate, and the metrics exchanges watch start to drift.
That drift has consequences, because exchanges monitor listed tokens continuously:
- MEXC publishes numeric thresholds, including the 2 percent average daily spread over fifteen consecutive days mentioned above. Details are in MEXC listing requirements.
- KuCoin lists low liquidity over a period among the triggers in its Special Treatment rules, together with wash trading and other misconduct. If liquidity does not recover above the required threshold by the end of the observation period, the token can be delisted.
- Gate and OKX remove tokens in regular batches after periodic reviews, stating that delisted pairs no longer meet their listing criteria.
The full picture of thresholds and warning stages is in why tokens get delisted. The common thread is that exchanges judge a token by the quality of its market, and a market nobody maintains tends to deteriorate.
Can a project make its own market?
Technically, yes. A team can open accounts, connect to exchange APIs and place limit orders on both sides of the book. Some projects try this for a small first listing. The difficulties appear quickly:
- Coverage. Crypto trades every hour of every day. Quotes have to be adjusted when the price moves at three in the morning or during a weekend sell-off, which means either a reliable algorithm with monitoring or traders on shift.
- Inventory risk. Quoting both sides means buying when others sell. Without a framework for managing that inventory, a treasury can end up holding far more of its own token than planned, or running out of stablecoins at the worst moment.
- Several venues at once. Once a token trades on two or three exchanges, prices have to stay aligned between them. That requires capital positioned on each venue and fast rebalancing.
- Conflict of interest. A team trading its own token is exposed to questions about insider activity and price support. Exchanges, investors and regulators are increasingly alert to this.
- Accountability. With an external desk, spread, depth and uptime targets can be written into a contract and reported on. With an internal setup, nobody is accountable except the team itself.
For most token projects, building this capability in house costs more in engineering time, capital and risk than a market making engagement. The exceptions tend to be large protocols with their own trading teams.
When a market maker is clearly needed, and when it can wait
| Situation | Market maker needed? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| First CEX listing with a TGE, airdrop or launchpool | Yes | The first hours carry the heaviest sell flow, and the book has to absorb it from the opening minute. |
| Listing on a venue with published spread or depth thresholds | Yes | Staying inside the thresholds every day is the condition for staying listed. |
| Token listed on two or more exchanges | Yes | Prices must stay aligned across venues, which needs capital and coordination on each one. |
| Major unlock or vesting cliff within the next six months | Yes | New supply needs depth prepared in advance. |
| Very early token with no CEX listing planned yet | Can wait | There is no centralised order book to maintain yet, but preparation should start well before the first listing. |
If a project is weeks away from its first listing, the timing matters as much as the decision. A market maker needs time to connect to the venue, agree targets and plan inventory. Our pre-TGE market making setup guide sets out the twelve weeks before launch.
What to look for if you do hire one
A market maker is worth paying for only if the engagement is measurable. The contract should state a spread ceiling per pair, minimum depth on both sides at defined bands around the mid price, an uptime percentage, reporting frequency and exit terms. It should not promise price levels or trading activity, because no legitimate desk can or should. The process for comparing desks is in how to choose a crypto market maker, and typical budgets are in how much crypto market making costs.
At Motion Trade, these targets are agreed before the first listing and tracked on a live dashboard the project can see at any time, so the team knows whether the book is meeting the exchange's expectations rather than finding out from a warning notice.
FAQ
Do you need a market maker to list on a centralised exchange?
Not as a formal rule on most exchanges, but listing teams ask how liquidity will be provided, and a credible plan almost always involves a professional market maker. After listing, exchanges monitor spread and liquidity, so a token without anyone quoting the book is at high risk of warning tags and delisting.
Does OKX or KuCoin require a market maker?
Neither publishes a requirement to hire one. OKX asks applicants for tokenomics, ecosystem data, funding information and, for the EU, a MiCA whitepaper, while KuCoin's research team reviews applications submitted through its listing form. Both exchanges review listed tokens regularly and remove pairs that no longer meet their criteria, which is where the absence of liquidity support usually shows.
Can a token project be its own market maker?
It is possible but rarely efficient. The team needs round-the-clock quoting, inventory management, capital on each venue and monitoring, and it takes on conflict-of-interest questions by trading its own token. Most projects find an external desk with contractual targets cheaper and safer.
What happens if a token has no market maker after listing?
Spreads widen, depth thins out and ordinary orders move the price sharply. The token becomes expensive to trade, buyers hesitate, and exchange metrics drift towards warning thresholds such as MEXC's 2 percent average spread rule or KuCoin's liquidity criteria.
When should I sign a market maker before listing?
Ideally several weeks before the first listing, so the desk can connect to the venue, agree spread and depth targets, and plan inventory for the launch. For a TGE, preparation usually starts about three months ahead.
Can a market maker guarantee a token's listing?
No. Listing decisions belong to the exchange. A market maker can help a project present a credible liquidity plan and keep the order book within the venue's requirements after listing, but any desk that promises a listing should be treated with caution.
