[expat_panama]

“providing liquidity” is the phrase HFT’s use to justify their place in the market.

lol!   While that is technically true, it's a bit like saying "staying alive" is the phrase people use to justify breathing.

[Wyatt's Torch]

Given that all the major exchanges sell access to their matching engine to HFT firms for huge sums of money it’s a bit of a co-dependent breathing relationship :-)