Market Maker Involvement

Throughout this user guide, we have mentioned the “market maker” in the context of several facets of the Marketplace and defined it as us, Straato LLC, participating in the Marketplace to regulate and stimulate activity. Without “market maker” involvement in the Straato Marketplace, the economy might struggle to restart new cycles and be less consistent in its overall operation.

The specific responsibilities of the “market maker” are best explained in Built-In Incentives & Disincentives of this user guide. Essentially, the “market maker” has the responsibility to restart and re-stimulate the Marketplace after a market Reset, facilitating an increase in pricing back to levels at which more users are willing to sell their assets. Without this involvement, new cycles might stall due to lack of asset offers, even with the incentives defined in the Reset description. Therefore, it is important to understand that “market maker” participation is helpful to the functioning of the Marketplace.

The “market maker” will never purchase assets, only sell assets that it inherits through the reset. Furthermore, user offers will always take precedence over “market maker” asset offers when listed at the same price. Last but not least, the “market maker” trades exclusively on a minute-by-minute, automated basis, triggered on certain market conditions that make a sale necessary or helpful – we do not actively trade against users or attempt to create profit-maximizing strategies.