Less Than 1% of Crypto Protocols Disclose Market Maker Deals

Novora Research found that in 150+ crypto protocols, disclosure of market maker deals (market maker terms) is extremely rare: under 1% publish details. The study reviewed multiple sectors (DeFi, Layer 1, Layer 2, AI, infrastructure and stablecoins) using 15 public disclosure checks per protocol. Only one protocol—Meteora—publicly disclosed market maker deals via its 2025 Annual Token Holder Report. Novora notes that market maker deals can affect day-to-day trading and token price behavior, but most teams keep these arrangements opaque. Revenue visibility is better but fragmented. 91% of protocols show traceable revenue data somewhere (dashboards or third-party research), yet only 3% maintain a dedicated investor relations hub. Token-holder materials are also limited: 8% publish token holder reports, and only 5% run dedicated investor channels. The report also evaluated the Blockworks Token Transparency Framework (TTF): about 9% of the dataset filed it, and notably, no Layer 1/Layer 2/infrastructure protocol did. On token economics, 38% use active value accrual, while 62% provide governance rights only; perpetuals show a higher active model rate (62%) than Layer 1/Layer 2 (12%). For traders, the key takeaway is that market maker deals remain largely unobservable. This can increase uncertainty around liquidity and short-term price pressure, even when revenue metrics are available.