Market making is about making two-sided prices under defined responsibilities, not predicting every next move.
01 / Function
A market maker helps make a market tradable.
A market maker generally stands ready to quote a bid and an offer in a product or market. That can support liquidity by giving other participants a visible two-sided price, but the exact obligations depend on the venue, product and regulatory framework.
The aim is not to be right about every price movement. A market maker must manage the risk created when it buys from one participant and sells to another while market conditions, information and available liquidity change.
02 / Risk
Two-sided quoting does not remove uncertainty.
If a market maker receives more buying or selling interest, it can accumulate inventory. A sudden move, changing volatility or loss of liquidity can make it difficult to reduce that exposure at an expected price.
For that reason, genuine market-making activity is connected to systems, limits, supervision and product-specific responsibilities. It should not be treated as a simple retail strategy or a generic platform feature.
03 / Malaysia
Use the local example precisely.
Bank Negara Malaysia describes principal dealers and Islamic principal dealers as having obligations to provide two-way price quotations for benchmark securities under all market conditions to support secondary-market liquidity. That is a formal role in a defined market framework.
It does not mean every institution, trader or online platform is a market maker. Always distinguish an official market role from marketing language.