Market Makers

This page outlines how professional market makers participate in Bolt and how Bolt supports capital-efficient, predictable execution.

Overview

Bolt is an on-chain prop-AMM execution venue designed for professional market makers who require deterministic execution, structural control, and scalable on-chain order flow without curve risk or passive liquidity deployment.

Bolt decouples price discovery from on-chain liquidity. Trades execute at deterministic, oracle-anchored prices, while market makers hedge off-chain and replenish single-sided on-chain inventory. This closely mirrors professional market making on centralized venues, with direct access to DeFi order flow.

Bolt is not an incentive program, an RFQ system, or a retail LP venue. It is market infrastructure.

Market Maker Role in Bolt

Market makers operate as Order Settlers across Bolt Outposts.

Their responsibilities are intentionally narrow and professional:

• Monitor Outposts for executable order flow

• Hedge trades immediately on external venues

• Replenish single-sided on-chain inventory

• Earn fees for execution and liquidity maintenance

There is no speculative positioning, curve management, or LP rebalancing.

Execution Model

Deterministic Pricing

• Pricing is oracle-anchored and verifiable

• No curve-based price movement

• No adverse selection from pool imbalance

Market makers execute against a known reference price rather than competing on curve positioning.

Off-Chain Hedging, On-Chain Settlement

• Hedging occurs off-chain (CEXs or deep liquidity venues)

• Settlement occurs on-chain via Bolt Outposts

• Exposure is temporary and neutralized in real time

This preserves speed, capital efficiency, and operational familiarity.

Capital and Risk Profile

Bolt is designed to resemble professional market making, not passive LPing.

• Single-sided inventory only

• No impermanent loss

• No requirement to overfund passive liquidity

• Capital is deployed only to back executable inventory

Because execution price is deterministic, liquidity can turn over more frequently, improving capital efficiency and ROI relative to curve-based AMMs.

Common Market Maker Considerations

Early Participation and Volume

Bolt does not sell guaranteed volume. Early participation provides structural access and positioning before routing commoditizes.

Early market makers benefit from:

• Pool isolation

• Oracle configuration control

• Lower effective fees

• Priority positioning

Later participants do not receive the same structural advantages.

Access Fees

Bolt uses access fees instead of per-trade taxes.

• Marginal cost does not increase with volume

• Fees are fixed and predictable

• This mirrors exchange membership and RFQ flow agreements

The model is designed to scale market maker volume without increasing marginal cost.

Build vs Integrate

While similar infrastructure could be built internally, market makers would still need:

• Aggregator integrations

• Monitoring and settlement logic

• Routing adoption and venue trust

Bolt enables immediate deployment with routing already in place and faster time-to-market at a fixed cost.

Oracle Configuration and Risk

Oracle behavior in Bolt is:

• Transparent

• Pool-isolated

• Disclosed to aggregators

Market makers define execution reference mechanics rather than manipulating prices. This design supports compliance, auditability, and reputational safety.

Aggregator Routing

Aggregators route based on price quality and execution guarantees.

Bolt does not force order flow. If a pool is competitive, it routes. If it is not, it does not. Routing remains market-based.

Relationship to RFQ

RFQ optimizes for bilateral, episodic flow. Bolt optimizes for continuous, deterministic execution through aggregators.

Many professional desks use both:

• RFQ for size

• Bolt for scalable on-chain flow

The models are complementary.

Pricing Expectations

Bolt is not positioned as the lowest-cost venue. It is designed to be the most controllable.

• Fixed downside

• Near-zero marginal trading cost

• Structural advantages over time

Pricing discussions typically focus on pool scope, launch partner positioning, and long-term access rather than volume discounts.

Strategic Value

For Market Makers

• Deterministic execution

• Capital-efficient deployment

• Fixed costs with scalable upside

• Aggregator-distributed on-chain flow

For Bolt

Market makers ensure:

• Prices track global markets

• Liquidity remains continuously available

• Users receive deterministic, zero-slippage execution

Market makers are a core component of Bolt’s market structure.