Case Study: ZAMA/USDC - Week 1
Zama partnered with Monarch to launch the ZAMA/USDC spot market on Hyperliquid. The market had institutional DMMs providing depth, but their spreads were wide, averaging >80+ bps
The result: a market with liquidity on the book but almost no trading activity. Volume averaged $3K/day in the week before the campaign.
Liquidity campaign
Marina went live with the following parameters:
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Market | ZAMA/USDC (Hyperliquid Spot) |
| Duration | 2 weeks |
| Reward heuristics | 50% boosted traded volume, 50% quoted depth |
Week 1 results
| Metric | Week Before | Campaign Week | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total volume | $22,085 | $313,940 | +1,322% |
| Total trades | 287 | 4,261 | +1,385% |
| Avg spread (bps) | 76.7 | 40.4 | -47% |
| Avg depth at 1% | $36,651 | $46,363 | +27% |
| Avg depth at 2% | $175,440 | $191,788 | +9% |
| Total fees generated | $18.16 | $304.17 | +1,575% |
Who the market traded against
The most revealing data point: Marina MMs quoted only ~15% of the book but captured 75% of all fill volume. Their tighter quotes meant traders could actually trade against them.
| Avg Quote volume | Total Fill volume | Fill-to-quote ratio | % of total fills | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marina MMs | $15,221 | $249,140 | 1,637% | 74.8% |
| Institutional DMMs | $174,542 | $84,112 | 48.2% | 25.2% |
The fill-to-quote ratio tells the capital efficiency story: Marina MMs' capital turned over 16x because their quotes were competitive enough to keep getting filled. DMMs had 11x more quote volume but less than half was utilised.
The complementary effect
Institutional DMMs still captured $84K in fill volume and benefited from the increased taker activity that tighter overall spreads attracted to the market. The pie grew for everyone.
- Institutional DMMs provided the depth foundation
- Marina MMs provided tighter, more continuous quoting
- Together, the market went from quiet to genuinely tradeable
Marina Earn vault
The Marina Earn USDC vault - which allows passive depositors to earn yield from the market making strategy - delivered an indicative 166% APY in its first week from $25K in deposits.
Week 2
Based on Week 1 data, Week 2 launched with improved parameters:
- Minimum 2,000 USDC deposit per maker
- More quoting slots at tighter spread tiers
- Goal: push spreads below 30 bps and improve depth quality
Key takeaway
A 2,500 USDC/week campaign transformed a barely traded market into one with $314K weekly volume, 47% tighter spreads and active community makers.
Marina proved that programmatic incentives can coordinate community liquidity at scale.