May 2026

1/5 | JANE STREET: THE PRIVATE WALL STREET MONSTER

Jane Street just crushed Wall Street:

• 2025 trading revenue: $39.6 BILLION

• Almost doubled YoY

• Q1 2026 alone: $16.1 BILLION

• EBITDA: ~$31.5 BILLION

• Headcount: ~3,500 people

One private trading firm out-earned most big investment banks combined.

Pure cash machine.

2/5 | GLOBAL FX: $9.6 TRILLION PER DAY

Global Forex is running wild:

• OTC turnover: $9.6 TRILLION per day

• Source: April 2025 BIS Survey

• Growth: +28% in 3 years

Electronic market makers, HFTs and PTFs swallowed most of that growth.

• Tighter spreads than ever in normal markets

• But liquidity can disappear the second volatility spikes

3/5 | CITADEL + CME: FUTURES DOMINATION

Citadel Securities printed:

• 2025 trading revenue: $12.2 BILLION

• Up 25% from its previous record

• Q4 alone: $3.8 BILLION

Meanwhile, CME hit:

• 28.1 million contracts per day

• All-time futures volume record

HFT market makers now dominate liquidity in indices and futures.

4/5 | THE DIRTY TRUTH ABOUT HFT LIQUIDITY

HFTs often run order-to-trade ratios of:

• 20:1

• 50:1+

That means massive quote stuffing.

In calm markets:

• Spreads tighten by 20 to 30%

• Displayed depth looks huge

• Execution looks smoother

During stress:

• Quotes vanish in milliseconds

• Real depth disappears

• Spreads explode

This so-called “infinite liquidity” is often artificial and cannibalizes real depth.

5/5 | CRYPTO MARKET MAKERS: DEEP UNTIL IT BREAKS

In crypto, Wintermute exploded:

• OTC volume: +313%

• Single-day record: $2.24 BILLION

Makers like Jump, Wintermute and B2C2 can provide:

• 30 to 50%+ of real liquidity

• Across major crypto platforms

In bull markets:

• Ultra-tight spreads

• Deep order books

• Smooth execution

In stress events:

• Brutal liquidations

• Instant withdrawals

• Spreads explode

VERDICT

Market makers made everyday trading:

• Faster

• Tighter

• More liquid

• More automated

But they also turned real liquidity into something:

• More artificial

• More fragile

• More algorithm-dependent

• More dangerous in a crisis

More efficient? Absolutely.

More dangerous under stress? Also yes.

So what are they?

Market heroes or liquidity vampires?

Drop your take.

https://metaquantuniverse.com/nexus