A new industry study by Novora finds that fewer than 1% of crypto protocols publicly disclose the terms of their market-making agreements, highlighting what researchers describe as one of the sector's most critical transparency gaps.
Market-Making Opacity: Only Meteora Breaks the Silence
Market makers provide liquidity and stabilize token prices, yet most protocols treat their agreements as confidential. According to Novora's 2026 IR & Token Transparency Report, which assessed more than 150 leading protocols across disclosure practices and investor relations metrics, only one protocol — Meteora — has publicly disclosed details of its market-making arrangements, doing so through a 2025 token holder report.
In traditional equity markets, such agreements are typically disclosed via standard regulatory filings. The absence of similar practices in crypto leaves investors without visibility into incentives, token flows, and potential conflicts tied to liquidity provisioning. Novora describes this as a structural issue rather than an oversight, noting that market-maker opacity persists across all sectors, including decentralized exchanges, lending protocols, and layer-1 networks.
Revenue Verifiable, Reporting Scarce: 18% Publish Quarterly Updates
While 91% of protocols generate verifiable on-chain revenue, only 18% publish quarterly updates and just 8% release token holder reports. This creates what the report calls a "transparency paradox" — data is widely available on-chain and through analytics platforms, yet rarely structured into formats accessible to institutional investors. Third-party data coverage has matured significantly, reinforcing that the issue lies in reporting standards rather than data availability.
Sector Divide: DeFi Leads, Layer-1 Lags
The study also highlights uneven disclosure practices across sectors. DeFi protocols — particularly derivatives and decentralized exchanges — tend to lead in transparency and value-accrual mechanisms, while layer-1 and infrastructure projects lag despite commanding larger market capitalizations. Only 9% of protocols have adopted emerging standards such as token transparency frameworks, underscoring the slow pace of institutional alignment.
Opaque market-making structures, especially token loan-based arrangements, have drawn scrutiny for potentially enabling sell pressure and price distortions — risks that remain difficult to assess without disclosure. Despite the industry's on-chain transparency at the data layer, investor relations infrastructure remains underdeveloped: only 3% of protocols maintain a dedicated investor relations hub, widening the gap between crypto projects and traditional public markets.
Institutional Participation Meets a Transparency Wall
As institutional participation grows, the absence of standardized disclosures — particularly around market-making — could become a limiting factor for capital inflows. The findings suggest that crypto's next phase of maturation may depend less on technological innovation and more on capital markets discipline.