In the first half of April, dozens of cryptocurrencies traded on crypto exchanges such as Binance and OKX experienced a double-digit drop in price for no apparent reason. At various times, tokens such as ACT, DEXE, KAVA, DF, HIPPO, UFT, VIDT fell by up to 90% in a matter of hours. Experts suggest that the reasons for such price movements may lie in the lack of transparency in the relationship between token issuers and market makers, writes RBC Crypto.
On April 13, the price of the OM token fell by 94% in two hours, losing more than $5 billion in capitalization. On April 12, VIDT quotes fell by 82%, according to Binance. On April 3-4, more than ten tokens, including ACT, DEXE, KAVA, DF, HIPPO, UFT, DF, BANANAS31, LUMIA, TST, QUICK, fell by tens of percent, and some fell by more than 50%.
Unless major players in the industry take steps to improve the situation, much of the market will remain uninvestable for the foreseeable future, according to Arthur Chong, founder of venture capital firm Defiance Capital. His opinion was noted by Chinese journalist Colin Wu.
Chong noted the trend of token prices falling after they started trading on exchanges: “They just dropped 70-90% after listing within a few months.” Chong also emphasized the lack of transparency in the relationship between the token developers and market makers.
Market makers play a key role on crypto exchanges, helping to provide liquidity for traders. Their main task is to ensure significant supply and demand for a particular asset, as well as maintaining a high level of trading activity. Market makers set bid and ask prices for trading pairs, and can also act as a buyer or seller in a transaction if there is no suitable counterparty. Who are crypto market makers. Why are they needed and how do they make money
The biggest problem the crypto market currently faces is the complete lack of clarity about how projects interact with market makers, writes Chong. In his view, this poses huge risks of price manipulation: “You don’t know whether the price is the result of organic supply and demand. Or whether it is the result of collusion between projects and market makers to fix the price for other purposes. It is absolutely bizarre that crypto exchanges turn a blind eye to this. And the altcoin market is becoming increasingly unpromising and losing credibility.”
Wu also noted that such activity for some tokens is limited to a few exchanges. For example, on April 14, Story (IP) suddenly fell by about 21.5%, with the bulk of trading volume concentrated on Binance and OKX. The price of the ACT token fell sharply by about 27%, with most of the trading volume concentrated on Binance's spot and futures markets.
However, periodic price crashes for some tokens are accompanied by local actions by crypto exchanges, which indicate ongoing work to create a fairer environment for users.
For example, after the OM token fell by almost 94%, the head of the OKX crypto exchange, Star Xu, said that the platform would investigate the incident and provide all the necessary reports. However, it is worth recognizing that the situation with OM has become a resonant event in the crypto market, probably due to the huge capitalization of the project before the fall, exceeding $6 billion.
While Binance has not publicly responded to the OM situation, the platform suspended two market makers in March. The exchange said the unnamed trading entities had been making illegal profits for several months.
However, the exchange's public statements and actions are isolated cases against the backdrop of multiple token price collapses in April. In addition, there is a general negative price trend for tokens that began trading on exchanges in 2025.
According to Binance data, of the ten crypto assets added in March 2025, only one has increased in price — FORM with an 11% gain. The data is calculated from the price at the end of the first day of trading until April 15, 15:45 Moscow time. The other nine, including PARTI, BROCCOLI714, BANANAS31, MUBARAK, TUT, GUN, BMT, NIL, EPIC, have fallen in the range of about 80%.
Overall, the trend of token prices falling after the start of trading on Binance is nothing new. According to the analytics panel on Dune, none of the 32 tokens listed on the exchange increased in price from the start of trading until April 15.
The last token listing on Dune dates back to early October. The panel has not been updated since then.
Источник: cryptocurrency.tech
