A new transparency tool is reshaping how crypto traders evaluate token liquidity by measuring the actual performance of the firms behind it. Forgd, a Web3 investment bank and advisory platform, has launched its Market Maker Leaderboard directly within DefiLlama, one of the crypto industry's most widely used analytics platforms. The leaderboard ranks leading crypto market makers, the firms whose constant buying and selling keeps tokens tradable, on standardized measures of pricing, market depth, reliability, and execution quality.

What Problem Does This Solve for DeFi Traders?

Until now, traders could analyze volume, total value locked (TVL), and fees when researching tokens, but they had no standardized way to evaluate the quality of the firms actually providing liquidity. Market makers are essential to decentralized finance (DeFi), a system where financial transactions happen directly between users without traditional intermediaries, yet their performance has remained largely invisible. "Crypto traders already look at volume, liquidity, TVL, unlocks, fees, and other market indicators," explained Shane Molidor, Founder and CEO of Forgd. "Market-maker quality is another indicator that should be closely analyzed. You can't accurately judge a token's liquidity without understanding who's providing it, and how well they perform".

The leaderboard is powered by data from more than 500 token projects and 35 market-making firms that use Forgd's tools to monitor liquidity across live engagements, creating a standardized record of how firms have performed across different tokens, venues, and market conditions. Forgd first introduced the leaderboard in May 2026 as a tool for token projects evaluating market makers; the DefiLlama integration extends that same data to the broader market of traders and analysts.

How Can Traders Use This Data in Their Workflow?

Because the leaderboard lives inside DefiLlama, users can integrate market-maker quality directly into their existing research processes without switching platforms. Ryan Celaj, Head of Research at DefiLlama, noted that "volume alone does not tell you whether a market has healthy, reliable liquidity. Bringing Forgd's market-maker performance data into DefiLlama gives traders another practical signal for evaluating execution quality and market resilience, directly within the research workflow they already use".

Ryan Celaj, Head of Research at DefiLlama

• Token Research: Check whether a token's liquidity is backed by firms with a strong execution record before taking a position, reducing the risk of entering a market with unreliable liquidity providers.
• Liquidity and Risk Analysis: Distinguish durable liquidity from headline volume, and flag markets likely to break down under stress when market conditions shift rapidly.
• Venue Comparison: See how the same firms perform across different exchanges and market environments, revealing which market makers are consistently reliable versus those that falter under pressure.

This addresses a critical gap in DeFi infrastructure. Market makers are the backbone of token trading, but their performance has never been standardized or transparent. A token might show high trading volume, but if that volume comes from unreliable market makers, the liquidity could evaporate during market stress, leaving traders unable to exit positions at fair prices. The leaderboard measures pricing quality, market depth, reliability, and execution quality, giving traders concrete data to distinguish between healthy and fragile liquidity.

The integration represents part of Forgd's broader mission to make crypto market structure more transparent. Forgd is a Web3 investment bank and advisory platform that equips blockchain projects with tools for tokenomics design, market-maker engagement, liquidity monitoring, and exchange listing support. DefiLlama, the platform hosting the leaderboard, is the largest open-source data platform for decentralized finance and the broader onchain economy, tracking key metrics across thousands of protocols and chains.

For token projects, this transparency creates accountability. Market makers now have their performance publicly ranked, which incentivizes better execution and more reliable service. For traders, it means making more informed decisions based on the actual track record of the firms providing liquidity, rather than relying solely on volume metrics that can be misleading. The leaderboard is available for free on DefiLlama, making this data accessible to the entire crypto trading community.