Binance Alpha Bull Run: A One-Sided Game Led by Market Makers

Author: @0xBenniee

In the current market environment where liquidity is not yet abundant during the interest rate cut cycle, the bullish trend of Binance Alpha continues to unfold: an obscure project can often quietly achieve several times the increase in a short period.

**This article will discuss the market-making strategy of the Alpha + Prep launch from the perspective of market makers, as well as the inner monologue of market makers, aiming to achieve "dancing with the market makers."

Binance Alpha is equivalent to a natural liquidity pool, which can concentrate huge attention and retail resources on the launch day. At the same time, it will attract a group of native Alpha users to participate in trading - they may choose to sell off, or they may choose to buy in. Each "Alpha worker" is placing a bet from their own perspective.

But if we switch to the perspective of the project parties and market makers, the inner thought is actually more straightforward: I have already paid 1-2% of the chip cost, launched Alpha, and additionally incurred costs to activate Prep, having paid so much "protection fee", the probability of abandoning the project later is relatively low.

So we saw the subsequent "Alpha On-chain Bull Market". In fact, it is difficult to achieve large-scale distribution relying solely on the Alpha spot market. The market makers must leverage Prep to attract more retail investors by continuously increasing OI, turning this trade into a "casino".

The logic of projects today is no longer the "narrative-driven" approach of the past, but has completely shifted to a capital-driven model: whoever has thicker chips can pull off a stronger market; as long as there are enough gamblers entering the market, market makers can continuously create volatility and reap profits from it.

The summary is as follows

• Alpha provides a natural attention pool and initial user base;
• Prep is the core tool for market makers to increase OI and attract traffic.

For market makers, the key logic on the launch day is:

• Alpha → Accumulate + Build Position;
• Prep → Pumping + Distribution.

"Taking the example of newly launched coins, let’s see how market makers profit through Alpha+Prep."

The launch time for Alpha is 8:00 ( UTC ), and the launch time for Prep is 10:30. This leaves only a two-and-a-half-hour window for market makers to receive their goods. This period is essentially the stage where market makers and retail investors compete for chips. Active market makers will grit their teeth and take delivery, and if this portion of chips is snatched away by a large number of free-rider retail investors, the subsequent cost for market makers to pull the price up will increase.

(From the market situation, the main market-making force on Alpha is primarily active MM. According to industry speculation, its financing scale usually ranges in the millions of dollars, while the liquidity supply on the spot side is relatively ample. )

After the launch of Prep, market makers will attract more retail investors by increasing OI (open interest), turning this game into a "betting table that gets more lively as more people sit down". The core function of Prep is not just to provide hedging tools, but to amplify market attention and trading participation.

At the same time, market makers often collaborate with relevant KOLs to release favorable news or engage in marketing PR, further creating topics and buzz to attract more attention. Whether going long or short, it fundamentally contributes liquidity to the market, which also provides larger operational space and more abundant profit sources for the manipulators.

As shown in the figure, after the launch of Prep, the OI was quickly pushed up and maintained stability at a high level. In the early stages, the operators usually do not choose to complete the distribution through large-scale rises or violent sell-offs. The reason is: if they sell off too early, the chips are likely unable to be bought back at the same or even lower cost, which would instead raise their overall cost of pushing the price up. The core goal of the operators is to distribute the chips to retail investors at as high a price as possible, ensuring that the distribution is completed smoothly.

During the upward trend, the funding rate often provides key reference points. By observing the fluctuations in the funding rate, market makers can assess whether market sentiment is overheated and optimize details based on this. For instance, when the funding rate skyrockets abnormally, market makers can use spot-futures hedging or short-term funding rate arbitrage to reduce holding costs, further enhancing overall returns.

The spot market is entirely in the hands of market makers. As long as the market makers do not crash the market, during the rise phase from 9/12 to 9/15, OI continued to increase, and the funding rates surged multiple times.

• Peak: 0.3–0.4% / 4h (annualized approximately 270%–360%);
• Average: 0.1–0.2% / 4h (annualized approximately 90%–180%).

This means that market makers establish hedged short positions in the contract market while receiving goods in the spot market, allowing them to continuously earn funding rates, thereby forming a stable arbitrage cash flow as an important means of cost optimization.

On 9/16, when the OI remained high and long positions were heavily accumulated, the market maker chose to crash the market significantly, distributing spot while short positions were profitable.

• Price decreased from 0.058 → 0.035, a decline of approximately 40%;
• Dealer cost range 0.015–0.02, selling average price approximately 0.045–0.05;
• Single transaction profit margin approximately +150%–200%.

(Ideally, the returns from the on-chain liquidity pools have not been included in the overall calculation. The specific strategies of different market makers also vary.)

A Few Key Points of Dancing with the Market

1. If you see a project with high control of the supply and a lot of community FUD in the early stages, it is often worth paying more attention to; while grand slam projects have complex chip structures and are inherently more difficult to predict, participation should be approached with caution.
2. If Alpha+Prep can be launched simultaneously on the first day, it usually means that liquidity is sufficient, and price fluctuations will be more intense.
3. Trying to estimate the profit situation of the dealer in each wave of rise and pullback helps to understand their trading logic.
4. Keep an eye on the pricing of Pancake V3 when it opens. If the opening price is too high, it might be wiser to wait for a more suitable rhythm.

Conclusion

The Alpha+PREP launch model is reshaping the current market landscape. On the surface, it seems like a narrative-driven new coin bull market, but in reality, it resembles a structured game directed by market makers. Alpha provides chip accumulation and initial flow, while PREP amplifies liquidity and volatility, and OI and funding rates become key tools for the operators. Retail investors may capture short-term opportunities from this, but more importantly, they need to understand the logic behind it: how far the market can go does not depend on how compelling the story is, but on how substantial the capital is and how precise the rhythm is.

Disclaimer: The content of this article is for market observation and personal opinion sharing only and does not constitute any investment advice. Trading digital assets carries high risks; please make prudent judgments and bear the risks on your own.