How to achieve healthy markets on centralized exchanges
More and more often, we see that on centralised exchanges, your token receives ST Zone, Assessment Zone, or other labels.
Let's figure out why this is happening.
Liquidity in Order Books
- Exchanges expect projects to maintain liquidity within the 2 percent depth. In reality many fail to meet this requirement because they underestimate its importance or do not allocate enough budget.
- When the order book is thin even small trades can move the price by several percent. This creates artificial volatility, weak execution and a clear signal that the market structure is unhealthy.
Strong depth is one of the core indicators of a reliable asset.
Spread
- Buy 1.25
- Sell 1.31
To calculate the percentage spread we use the formula:
(Buy - Sell) / Sell × 100 %
(1.31-1.25) / 1.31 × 100 % = 4.58 %
This means the gap between the best bid and best ask costs almost five percent of the price.
When the spread is this wide traders have no incentive to participate because they lose several percent instantly on every entry and exit. Activity drops, volume dries up and the market starts to look illiquid and unattractive to new participants.
KPI of the Exchanges
Every exchange lists a new token with two goals in mind. First, to generate revenue. Second, to attract new users to the platform.
Because of this each exchange sets its own KPIs, and while the numbers vary the structure is always the same. The project must maintain a required number of KYC verified users who actually hold and trade the token. If these KPIs are not met the project risks being moved into the ST zone.
For newly listed tokens the main KPI is simple and very direct.
New User - > Pass KYC - > Buy Token / Deposit token - > Trade Token for required volume - > Optional : Trade Perps or use other products.
Together with my team at Cicada Market Making, we help Web3 founders solve one of the biggest challenges after launch: liquidity.
Our focus is on crypto market making, liquidity provision, exchange listing requirements, order book management, and creating healthy trading environments across CEXs.
If you’re building a token and need support with market making, crypto liquidity, or exchange listings, feel free to send me a message. Always happy to share insights and help founders navigate the market.
Posted Jun 15, 2026, 12:53 PM UTC