Continuous two-sided quoting across centralized exchanges
Raven quotes both sides of the book continuously on centralized exchanges, on its own account and at its own risk, within commercial parameters agreed with each venue.
Raven was built as an HFT firm that does market making, not a market-making firm running some algorithms. That order matters. The infrastructure was designed for speed and precision first, and the results are visible.
Market-maker programs across the full CeFi tiering spectrum - from global tier-one venues to regional and specialist exchanges.
Tier 1
Global volume leaders
Mid-tier
Established venues with distinct flow
Regional & specialist
Jurisdiction-specific and niche venues
Three things that rarely show up together in one market-making firm.
01
Infrastructure designed for speed and precision from day one.
02
Volatility does not scare us, it excites us!
03
A limited number of active engagements at any one time.
01
CeFi stands for centralized finance. A CeFi venue is a cryptocurrency exchange operated by a company that holds user funds, runs a centralized matching engine, and manages the trading infrastructure internally. Binance, Coinbase, and Kraken are examples. A market maker on a CeFi venue posts two-sided quotes across the exchange's trading pairs, maintaining tight spreads and consistent depth so that users can transact at reasonable prices. For the exchange, the quality of its market makers directly shapes the user experience: spread tightness, fill reliability, and how the order book behaves during volatile conditions are among the most visible indicators of venue quality. Most liquidity on active CeFi venues comes from a small number of professional market makers operating at scale, rather than from organic retail flow.
02
The market makers quoting on an exchange are, in practical terms, responsible for the order book users see. Wide spreads, shallow depth, or quotes that disappear during volatile windows are experienced by users as problems with the exchange itself, even when the underlying cause is a market maker pulling back. The consequences compound over time. Traders who experience poor execution migrate to venues with better liquidity. Volume declines, which reduces the attractiveness of the venue to other liquidity providers, which reduces liquidity further. The opposite is also true: consistent, tight, reliable quoting attracts volume, which attracts more liquidity, which reinforces the venue's position. For newer or growing venues, the choice of launch or anchor market maker often determines how the exchange is perceived during the period that matters most.
03
An engagement begins with a conversation about the venue's priorities. What markets matter most, what liquidity profile the exchange is trying to achieve, what the commercial structure looks like, and what the timeline is. From there, the market maker integrates with the exchange's API, establishes credit and settlement arrangements where relevant, and begins quoting. Commercial structures vary. They can include maker rebate programs, volume-based fee tiers, designated market maker agreements with specific uptime and spread commitments, or more bespoke arrangements tied to the venue's goals. Ongoing engagements typically involve regular communication between the exchange and the market maker around flow quality, market conditions, and any adjustments to scope as the venue evolves.
04
In theory, yes. In practice, almost never at a quality that users will tolerate. Organic liquidity - traders buying and selling against each other directly - requires a coincidence of timing, size, and price that rarely occurs on its own. Without someone continuously posting quotes, a buyer who arrives at the exchange has to wait for a seller who happens to want the same size at the same price. In the meantime, the order book looks empty, spreads are wide, and execution is unpredictable. Market makers bridge that gap. By standing ready to quote both sides of the market continuously, they create the appearance and the reality of a functioning exchange. The result is a venue where users can actually transact when they want to, rather than one where they post an order and hope something happens. Every established exchange, in crypto or traditional finance, relies on professional market makers as the backbone of its liquidity. Organic flow exists on top of that foundation, not instead of it.
05
Volatile markets are where the value of consistent liquidity provision becomes most visible. When prices move sharply, spreads naturally widen as uncertainty about fair value increases, and the depth of the order book tends to thin as participants become more cautious. Some widening is unavoidable and reflects the genuine increase in risk. The question for an exchange is how its market makers behave beyond that baseline. Broadly, there are two patterns. Some firms continue quoting through volatile windows, adjusting spreads and sizes in a measured way while remaining active on both sides of the market. Others pull back sharply or step away entirely, leaving the order book thin at precisely the moments users are most active. The behavior during stress tends to shape how an exchange is perceived over time. Volatile events are the conditions under which users form lasting impressions of whether a venue is reliable, and the quoting behavior of its market makers is a significant part of that experience.
Raven runs a small number of active CeFi engagements at any one time. If your venue or token program needs execution quality that holds up under stress, the conversation is the fastest way to find out whether there's a fit.
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