Market Maker Inventory Costs

Exposure

Market maker inventory costs represent the economic friction arising from holding net long or short positions in digital assets as a byproduct of continuous quoting. These costs manifest when the price of an asset deviates from the dealer’s expected mean, forcing them to carry unbalanced positions that correlate with directional market movements. Maintaining these holdings requires allocating capital that could otherwise be deployed for more profitable arbitrage opportunities across diverse exchanges.