Market Makers Vs Market Takers: What Is the Difference?

There are two types of traders in any thriving marketplace – market makers and market takers. You might be familiar with these terms if you have spent a little time investing in the market. Every investor should know about their basics because they are important participants in the trading process.

Who Are Market Makers?

A market maker is an individual or firm that sells or buys assets for its account. They make the order books and are responsible for providing liquidity to the market. Market makers make a profit from the spread between profit price and assets bid since they take a chance by holding onto the asset even though its price might drop.

Also, they make use of different operations to try to gain profit including market maker signals a designated market maker (DMM). A DMM is a special kind of market maker who maintains price quotes and feeds for a specific asset. They can be likened to market makers that create liquidity for a specific asset, facilitating the purchase and sale of that specific asset.

Who Are Market Takers?

A market taker is an individual or firm that completes a market order by accepting it. They are also known as liquidity takers. To look at market takers another way, they are the ones who take from the order book.

Market takers are regular people who trade on the market and purchase an asset for the asking price. They are investors who hope that the new asset will add to the value of their portfolio in the long or short term.

What Are Market Makers Vs Market Takers in Crypto?

Market makers and market takers are not in competition with one another. To work in what is known as a symbiotic system, they both need one another. Both collaborate to establish a functioning crypto trading market.

Someone who creates the sell and buys order for execution is the market maker, while the party that immediately fills or buys that order is the market taker. Their operations are accounted for in an order book.

For the sell and buy orders to be filled, there needs to be enough liquidity in the market. You wouldn't have enough assets available without liquidity to satisfy market participants' trade requirements.

Furthermore, automated market makers (AMMs), a more recent development that prominently features in the decentralized finance (DeFi) market in the form of decentralized exchanges (DEXs), have been created. An AMM model that is particularly well-known for conducting trades directly between peers and maintaining an asset's price through a mathematical formula is the Uniswap exchange.

By using this formula, the price is guaranteed to be as stable as possible. Impermanent loss is one of the risks that AMMs carry. Nevertheless, you must be aware that every system has its own unique set of benefits and drawbacks.

Watch this video on how to trade!

What Are Market Maker and Market Taker Fees?

Both market makers and market takers are charged fees on a trading platform. However, because they offer liquidity, market makers are charged less. In contrast, market takers take away liquidity and are charged more. Still, you must keep in mind that this can change depending on the exchange.

Since liquidity provision is necessary for the operation of the exchange, some exchanges even exempt fees for market makers.

Conclusion

Both market makers and market takers are important models in understanding how trading and liquidity work, and how they impact prices. Different asset classes work on this model including the crypto market. Knowing the difference between both will help you know the role you play in trading.