How Can Crypto Projects Find a Market Maker? Binance Matching and Contract Review

Binance

18 October 2026

Binance itself does not "match" project teams with market makers. What it offers is a market maker application channel, allowing qualified liquidity providers to get fee discounts as market makers. It does not introduce or match market makers for any specific token project. Project teams mainly need to contact market makers through off-exchange channels on their own. Meanwhile, Binance's updated rules in 2026 require project teams to proactively disclose their market maker arrangements to Binance and submit contract terms to the exchange for review.

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What is Binance's "Market Maker Program"?

Binance does have an official Market Maker Program, but it is aimed at market makers themselves, not token projects.

Take the Futures Market Maker Program as an example. The application requirement is a 30-day futures trading volume of no less than 100 million USD equivalent, or a spot trading volume of no less than 20 million USD equivalent. To apply, you email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or contact a sales representative and submit proof of trading volume. Once approved, market makers can get rebates on maker fees, higher API limits, and low-latency connection services.

The purpose of this channel is for market makers to apply to Binance for "market maker status" so they can enjoy preferential fees when making markets on Binance. It has nothing to do with "Binance helping projects find market makers." If your project is already listed or about to be listed on Binance and you want to arrange a market maker to provide liquidity, you take a different path: negotiate with the market maker yourself, then report the contract to Binance as required.

2026 New Rules: Contracts Must Be Reported to Binance

Binance's market maker guidelines released in March 2026 have a core requirement: project teams must disclose their market maker relationships. Specifically, token issuers need to report the market maker's identity, legal entity name, and contract terms to Binance.

The background of this rule is that Binance found some market making behaviors it considered problematic: token sales exceeding the agreed release schedule, sustained one-sided sell pressure, large coordinated deposits across multiple platforms, high trading volume with almost no price movement (possibly pointing to wash trading), and abnormal price fluctuations in thin order books. Binance's stance is that market makers should be "neutral liquidity providers," not "sellers with hidden interests."

The new rules explicitly prohibit two types of arrangements: profit-sharing agreements and guaranteed return structures. Binance believes such arrangements give market makers incentives to act in ways that are not conducive to fair and orderly trading. Token loan agreements also need to clearly state how the borrowed tokens are allowed to be used.

The practical impact on project teams: the terms of the contract you sign with a market maker need to withstand Binance's review. If your contract includes profit sharing, Binance explicitly does not allow it. If you plan to lend tokens to a market maker, what the market maker is allowed to do with them after borrowing must be clearly written in the contract.

Binance says violating market makers will face blacklisting, but it has not confirmed whether the blacklist will be made public.

What to Look for in Contract Review

Contract review has two layers: what you should look at yourself, and what Binance will look at.

The clauses you need to watch most closely are, first and foremost, the usage permissions for tokens after they are lent out. Token loans are currently the mainstream cooperation model, but once tokens are lent out, control is in the hands of the market maker. The contract should state that the lent tokens can be used for market making and not for other purposes, such as hedging or shorting during the loan period, or transferring tokens to addresses the project team does not know about. Some market making practitioners have mentioned that before the token loan, the project team is the boss; after the loan, market makers have many ways to fool the project team, and liquidity KPIs are very hard to verify precisely in practice.

Do not talk to only one market maker. Terms differ greatly between market makers. If you only talk to one, you lack a benchmark for comparison. You can talk to 2–4 firms and assign different exchanges to different market makers. This avoids the "too many cooks spoil the broth" problem and makes it easier for them to cover each other when issues arise.

Avoid profit sharing. Binance has already banned it, and you should not accept it in your own contract either. Profit sharing ties the interests of the market maker and the project together, giving the market maker an incentive to "make price" rather than "make liquidity." The neutrality of a passive market maker is its value. Once a market maker starts actively pumping the price, you become counterparties.

Liquidity KPIs should be verifiable. Writing "maintain an order book of XX depth" in the contract is one thing; whether it can actually be verified is another. You need to clarify where the data comes from, how often it is checked, and what happens if targets are not met. The reports provided by the market maker are first-hand data, but you should at least have the ability to cross-check using the exchange's public order book yourself.

Where to Find Market Makers

Binance does not provide matching services, so the path for project teams to find market makers is basically off-exchange.

Industry conferences and social channels are common entry points. Market makers usually set up booths or hold side events at major industry events, and project teams can make direct contact there. Telegram groups in the crypto industry and DMs on X are also common first contact channels, but you need to verify the other party's identity first.

Ask through existing exchange relationships. Although Binance does not match, if you are already in contact with Binance's listing team or a client manager, you can ask them "if there are common market makers they can recommend." This is not an official service, but in practice project teams do this.

Get introductions from other project teams. Projects that have already completed listings usually have direct experience working with market makers. Their feedback is far more credible than a market maker's own pitch.

You should start screening at the contact stage. One judgment angle mentioned by market making practitioners is: market makers are "battle-hardened players," while project teams are often "first-timers." The best-sounding terms are not necessarily the best arrangement—overly generous conditions may mean the other party plans to recover costs in ways you did not expect.

Verification Sequence from Contact to Signing

After contacting market makers, follow this sequence to avoid skipping steps.

The first step is information gathering. Ask the other party to provide their legal entity name, place of registration, and past market making cases. Market makers are usually reluctant to disclose client lists, but at least you need to know which legal entity is signing with you, not just a Telegram account.

The second step is term comparison. After getting quotes from at least two firms, compare these dimensions: setup fee (if any), monthly fee, number of tokens lent, loan period, return conditions, specific definition of liquidity KPIs, data reporting frequency, and breach handling.

The third step is contract drafting and review. The contract must clearly include what Binance's new rules require: the permitted uses of tokens after lending, the market maker's legal entity, and no profit sharing. If you plan to report the contract to Binance, the terms at this step need to be aligned in advance.

The fourth step is disclosure to Binance. If you are already listed on Binance or have a listing plan, report the market maker identity and contract terms to Binance as required. Binance has not published a specific disclosure portal or format. In practice, communication usually goes through the listing contact person or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

A Question to Think Through in Advance

Once the token loan is given to a market maker, you cannot control how it is used during the loan period. The contract can restrict usage, but enforcement depends on trust and the market maker's willingness to comply. If the market maker also holds a position in your token on the secondary market, or has received token investment from your project, its interests may not align the way you think.

Think this through before signing: if the market maker does not use your lent tokens as agreed, how quickly will you find out? What can you do once you find out? Does the contract have clear early termination clauses and a token recovery mechanism?

If you do not have clear answers, have another round of talks before signing.