Deciphr Academy
Track 4 · Module 19 · Lesson 7 of 7 · 5 min read

What should you ask a market maker before signing?

Short answer

Ask what they may do with your tokens, which targets they must hit, how you will check, and how they are paid.1,2 Walk away from anyone who sells volume or promises a price.3,4

Who holds the tokens, and where?What targets: spread, depth, uptime?What reports, and how often?What happens at the end?Who else do they work for?
Fig. 7. A short checklist before you sign.

Seven questions

  1. What exactly may you do with our tokens? Binance's guidance says a token loan agreement should spell this out.1
  2. Which targets will you hit, and how is each one measured? In many loan deals the targets are missing or vague.2 Exchange programmes use measurable ones, such as the widest allowed spread and how often both prices are showing.5
  3. How often will you report your trading to us? In the FractureLabs lawsuit, the project alleged the trading firm delayed reporting its trading.6
  4. How is your fee worked out? In the Gotbit case, the fee depended on trading volume, and the pricing included a share of profits.7 Binance prohibits profit-sharing deals with market makers.1
  5. Do you promise anything about the price? Presto's research argues a legitimate market maker makes no price promises.4
  6. May we tell the exchange who you are and what we agreed? Binance asks projects to report their market maker and contract terms.1
  7. What happens when the deal ends? In a loan deal the option is used at the end of the loan.4 In the FractureLabs deal, repayment could be in tokens or in dollars.6
Our viewHave a lawyer read the contract before you sign. And keep your own records of spreads and prices, so you are not relying only on the market maker's reports.

Before the quiz

Tip

The quiz covers all seven lessons. Some questions use the Brindlecove Labs case, and some change their numbers on every try, so work through the examples before you start.

Sources
  1. Guidance for projects working with market makers. Binance blog, 25 March 2026.
  2. Market maker deals are quietly killing crypto projects. Cointelegraph Magazine (Yohan Yun), 16 April 2025.
  3. Cryptocurrency financial services firm agrees to plead guilty to charges related to market manipulation. US Department of Justice, District of Massachusetts, 21 January 2025.
  4. Market Making: Predatory or Essential?. Presto Research (Min Jung), 10 May 2024.
  5. Market Maker Program Terms v1.1. Norwegian Block Exchange (NBX), 20 May 2026.
  6. Complaint, FractureLabs OÜ v. Jump Trading LLC, No. 1:24-cv-10249 (N.D. Ill.). US District Court filing via CourtListener (allegations only), 15 October 2024.
  7. Affidavit in support of criminal complaint, United States v. Andriunin (Gotbit). US Department of Justice / FBI, 24 September 2024.
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General education built from the publicly available sources listed above. Not financial, legal, tax or investment advice. Naming a company, project or regulator is not an endorsement either way. Last checked 2026-10-22. Terms and disclaimer.