[vgatherps]

Crypto volume is pretty hft/market maker weighted as well.

There’s just not

a. Enough random interested parties willing to buy/sell various coins so that you have low-spread and liquid markets

b. Non-hft players who keep crypto markets in line with each other

This isn’t super surprising. Managing posted liquidity is a difficult task that sort of requires being halfway to a market maker, and naturally most non-market makers just want to buy and sell right away instead of posting orders and waiting/hoping.

The result of this is that most liquidity is provided by HFTs, since they’re the only party that can and even wants to have a bunch of bids/offers out for you to trade against.