Industry, legal and operations
Market maker
A participant that quotes both a bid and an ask continuously, profiting from the spread between them and carrying inventory risk in return. Market makers are what make an instrument tradeable in size at a predictable cost.
GFN’s figure
GFN is not a market maker and not a broker. Prices on a simulated account model real market conditions, including spread changes and execution differences, without customer orders reaching a market.
In detail
Market maker,explained
Market makers are what make an instrument tradeable in size at a predictable cost. Where they step back - a holiday session, the minutes around a release - spreads widen immediately.
The term is also used loosely for brokers that internalise client flow, which is a different activity with the same name.
Related
Terms thatcome with it
Most rules only make sense next to the ones they interact with. These are the entries this one depends on.
Liquidity provider
An institution that streams tradeable prices to brokers and venues - typically a bank or a specialist trading firm. Their aggregated quotes are what a retail price is ultimately built from.
A-book
A brokerage model where client orders are passed through to external liquidity providers rather than held internally. The broker earns from spread and commission and takes no position against the client, so its revenue follows volume.
B-book
A brokerage model where client orders are held internally rather than passed to a market, so the broker takes the other side of them. Client losses become broker revenue, which is the structural objection to it.
Broker
A firm that executes trades on a client's behalf and holds client funds to do so. It is a different business from a prop firm, with different obligations and a different relationship to the client.
Spread
The gap between the bid and the ask price. It is the cost paid on entry: a position opens slightly underwater by the width of the spread before the market has moved at all.
Ready when you are
Your capital stays yours.The risk is ours.
One evaluation fee, no time limits and up to 90% of simulated profits. Pick an account size and your credentials arrive by email within minutes.
No subscriptions or hidden fees
Payouts every 14 days
$400,000 max total allocation