What happens to a token's market after listing?
Attention leaves and the book thins. In TDMM's study of 753 listings, 59.4% of the first 90 days' volume traded in month one. A year on, median daily volume was 0.03 times day one, and only 9.7% of tokens were at or above their first close.
Age does not fix the order book. Among pairs one to two years old, the median spread was 18.0 basis points, the median bid depth within 1% was $1,219, and 81.2% could not absorb a $50,000 sell. A listed token needs its market managed for as long as it trades.
How far does volume fall in the first year?
Median daily volume as a multiple of day one, 753 listings
Which recurring events does a market manager plan for?
| Event | Typical effect | Evidence | What TDMM does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Team or investor unlock | Price pressure from about 30 days before, settling about 14 days after | Keyrock: about 90% of 16,000+ unlocks were negative | Sizes liquidity ahead of the date; coordinates with recipients selling OTC or over time |
| Exchange periodic review | A warning tag, then delisting | CryptoRank: 786 delistings in Q2 2025 | Tracks spread, volume and cross-venue gap against each exchange's rule |
| Market-wide cascade | Depth gone for minutes and thinner for months | 10 October 2025: over $19B liquidated | Stress limits, inventory buffers and a re-quote time |
| Perpetual futures listing | About half of new perps peak on day one | BitMEX Q1 2025 derivatives report | Hedge capacity; watches open interest against spot depth |
| Buyback window | Often little price response | Helium paused buybacks for that reason | Rules-based execution, reported apart from market making |
| New venue or chain | Prices and spreads diverge between venues | TDMM: 15.5 bps median gap across four exchanges | One reference price; inventory rebalanced between venues |
How much supply unlocks in a year?
Tokenomist counted $97.43 billion of unlocks in 2025, of which $18.77 billion went to insiders. Single events can be large against a token's float: in July 2026 the PUMP cliff was 23.77% of circulating supply.
Token unlocks in 2025 by quarter
What must a listed token keep meeting?
Exchanges review listed tokens and remove those that fall short. A few publish numbers. CryptoRank counted 67 delistings in the first quarter of 2024, a record 786 in the second quarter of 2025 and roughly 400 to 500 a quarter in 2026.
| Exchange | Rule | Published thresholds |
|---|---|---|
| Binance | Monitoring Tag after periodic review of volume and liquidity, development, team commitment and communication | None numeric |
| KuCoin | Special Treatment for low liquidity over a period, wash trading or unreported material changes | None published |
| MEXC | ST warning, with delisting three days later if risk is significant | Average daily spread over 2% for 15 days; 15-day price gap to other exchanges over 15%; price down over 60% in the first three days |
| Phemex | ST for low liquidity when three of four thresholds are met | Spread over 0.5%; daily volume under 30,000 USDT for three months; no trades for 120 minutes; market cap under 3 million USDT for three months |
| Bybit | Delisting process published; criteria sit in separate token management rules | None on the public page |
How are prices kept consistent across venues?
A token on four exchanges has four order books. In TDMM's study of 45 tokens listed on Gate, MEXC, KuCoin and OKX, the widest venue spread was 3.0 times the tightest and the deepest book was 2.8 times the thinnest.
Spread on secondary venues
TDMM's typical mid-cap target is 20 to 60 basis points. A venue with no dedicated market maker often shows 100 to 300.
Cross-venue deviation
Target under 30 basis points between venue mid prices.
Uptime
95% to 99% per venue, reported for each exchange.
One book
One reference price, one inventory and one risk view across every venue and pool.
What should a monthly market report contain?
A report is only useful if the project can check it. Independent trackers now exist: the Tokenomist and Forgd Market Maker Performance Index covers 24 firms and shows uptime ranging from 100% down to 9.24%, and Coinwatch Track reads market makers' API keys to show depth, spread and volume.
| Section | Measure | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Quoting | Uptime per venue | Shows whether quotes met the agreed spread and depth |
| Cost of trading | Spread and depth at 0.5%, 1% and 2% per side | The numbers a trader feels |
| Balance | Bid to ask depth ratio | A ratio far below 1 signals one-sided quoting |
| Inventory | Token and stablecoin balances by venue; loan utilisation | Shows where loaned assets are and how much is deployed |
| Consistency | Cross-venue price gap | Flags venues that drift |
| Events | Depth before and after unlocks and listings | Tests whether planning worked |
Do token buybacks work as market management?
Spending is large and concentrated, and the evidence on price is mixed. Buybacks are a treasury decision. Where a project runs one, TDMM executes it on rules and reports it apart from market making.
| Project or period | Buyback spend | Reported outcome |
|---|---|---|
| All projects, 2025 to mid-October | Over $1.40B (CoinGecko) | Hyperliquid accounted for $644.64M, or 46% |
| All projects, 2026 to 25 August | $638M (Allium) | Hyperliquid and Pump.fun made up about 90% |
| Jupiter, 2025 | Over $70M | JUP near $0.21, down almost 90% from its high |
| Helium | Paused buybacks, citing little response to open-market purchases |
Can a manager promise volume?
No. MiCA Article 91 prohibits conduct that gives, or is likely to give, false or misleading signals about the supply of, demand for, or price of a crypto-asset. KuCoin lists wash trading as grounds for Special Treatment. TDMM manages what organic volume depends on, the cost of trading, and reports volume relative to depth so a project can see whether the two are in line.
How does the service run day to day?
- Venue feedsOrder books, trades and balances from every venue
- KPI checkSpread, depth, uptime and cross-venue gap against target
- ActionRe-quote, rebalance inventory or adjust ranges
- Event calendarUnlocks, listings and reviews planned ahead
- Monthly reportVerifiable against public data
How does TDMM take over a live market?
- 1
Audit
Spread, depth, uptime and price gaps on every venue, set against each exchange's published rules.
- 2
Set targets and calendar
KPIs per venue and a 12-month calendar of unlocks and reviews.
- 3
Transfer accounts
Sub-accounts, trade-only keys and the return of assets from any previous provider.
- 4
Run the book
Quoting, rebalancing and event planning from one reference price.
- 5
Report monthly
The six report sections, with a quarterly review of targets.
Frequently asked questions
What is Token Market Management?
Token Market Management is TDMM's retained service for listed tokens. It manages spread, depth, cross-venue pricing, liquidity around unlocks, exchange maintenance thresholds and monthly reporting, on one book.
Does volume recover after listing?
Usually not. In TDMM's study of 753 listings, median daily volume was 0.09 times day one after 90 days and 0.03 times after a year.
Do token unlocks always push the price down?
About 90% of more than 16,000 unlock events showed negative price pressure in Keyrock's study, but ecosystem development unlocks averaged a gain of 1.18%. Team unlocks were the worst.
What gets a token a Binance Monitoring Tag?
Binance reviews listed tokens on factors including trading volume and liquidity, development activity, team commitment and communication. It publishes no numeric threshold.
Which exchanges publish numeric delisting thresholds?
MEXC and Phemex do. MEXC's include an average daily spread over 2% for 15 consecutive days. KuCoin and Bybit do not publish numbers on their public pages.
Can a market maker guarantee trading volume?
No. Creating misleading volume is market manipulation under MiCA Article 91 and grounds for Special Treatment on KuCoin. TDMM does not sell or promise volume.
Do buybacks lift a token's price?
The evidence is mixed. Jupiter spent more than $70 million in 2025 with the token down almost 90% from its high, and Helium paused its programme for lack of response.
How can a project verify its market maker?
By checking reports against public order book data and by using independent trackers such as Coinwatch Track or the Tokenomist and Forgd Market Maker Performance Index.
Related TDMM offerings and guides
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TDMM publishes this page about its own service. It is information only and is not investment, legal or tax advice. TDMM does not promise token prices or trading volume. Benchmarks and model outputs are dated and sourced in each caption.