Maker (Order Book Context)
Also known as: Limit Order Trader, Liquidity Adder, Market Maker
A trader who places a limit order that adds liquidity to the market, as opposed to a taker who removes it.
A maker in trading is someone who places a limit order that sits on the order book, waiting to be matched with a buyer or seller. Makers 'make' the market by providing liquidity, helping ensure other traders can execute trades with minimal slippage. On decentralized or centralized exchanges, makers are often rewarded with lower fees compared to takers. The maker-taker model incentivizes healthy market depth and activity. In DeFi, automated market makers (AMMs) abstract this role, but the concept still underpins traditional and hybrid exchange mechanics.