As we ride out another crypto cycle, we're watching for what's changed since last cycle, particularly how people are trading. Every financial era is shaped by the tools being used, and right now, crypto trading terminals are just starting to make sense. Yet when we watch trading livestreams we're seeing a chaotic mix of DEX dashboards, custom scripts, and many many tabs open.
As we build Doormat, we're borrowing the most effective elements from TradFi and leaving behind what doesn’t work for crypto. During the 90s, the Bloomberg Terminal turned institutional traders into the degens of their era. We need to talk about how trading terminals have evolved and what crypto actually needs from these terminals.
The first known trading terminal dates back to the late 19th century with the invention of the stock ticker, and since then, trading terminals have come a long way.
Before electronic screens, stock prices got printed on long strips of paper. Traders literally watched the tape roll for updates.
To place a trade, you picked up the phone and called your broker. Market access was limited. Execution speed? Super slow.
NASDAQ launched in 1971 as the first fully electronic stock exchange, eliminating the need for paper-based trading and revolutionizing market transparency by providing real-time digital price quotes.
Between 1971 and 1982, traders relied on early electronic quotation systems like NASDAQ’s feeds and Reuters terminals while still executing trades via phone calls with brokers.
Bloomberg dropped its now-iconic terminal in 1982, stuffing data, execution, and analytics into a single system. By the 1990s, it had cemented its dominance with comprehensive data feeds, communication tools, and execution capabilities. It quickly became the industry standard, offering not just real-time market data but a full ecosystem where traders could execute trades, chat with peers, and access sophisticated analytics.
Traders didn’t just use Bloomberg; they needed it to keep up. The network effects were massive: if everyone else was on Bloomberg, you had to be too.
Online brokers like E*TRADE made trading accessible to retail users, with retail trading volume growing by over 50% between 1999 and 2002.
Mobile trading apps exploded, led by Robinhood, which amassed over 13 million users by 2020, making retail trading more accessible than ever.
High-frequency trading (HFT) surged, accounting for over 50% of U.S. equity market volume by 2010, creating a market where speed became the defining advantage.
DEXs, perpetuals, and memecoins changed the game, but execution remains inefficient, with DeFi trading volumes surpassing $100 billion per month but still lagging behind centralized exchange volume.
Binance, which processes over $50 billion in daily spot trading volume, and Uniswap, the largest DEX with over $1.5 trillion in total trading volume, dominate the market, but all traders still juggle multiple platforms and tools.
Every phase of terminal evolution has solved a core inefficiency. Crypto is still waiting for its Bloomberg moment—a singular platform that consolidates everything traders need into one seamless, high-powered interface. We’re missing a true crypto-native terminal—one that isn’t just a janky adaptation of Web2 finance.
Crypto trading today mirrors early stock markets—fragmented, inefficient, and favoring insiders. Liquidity is scattered across chains and platforms, retail traders struggle to compete with institutions, and execution remains manual and slow. Just like electronic trading terminals revolutionized TradFi, crypto needs infrastructure that simplifies execution, integrates data, and removes inefficiencies.
Bloomberg transformed TradFi by offering a single interface where traders could analyze data, execute trades, and communicate—all in one place. The crypto market will inevitably consolidate around a similarly powerful platform.
The next generation of trading terminals must:
Make DeFi as seamless as CeFi. No more manually bridging or setting slippage—just efficient execution.
Automate complexity. Enable execution across multiple wallets, chains, and DEXs without scripting.
Deliver actionable insights in real-time. Help users track trends, copytrade, and react instantly to market movements.
As crypto trading matures, a single platform will emerge as the standard—one that traders rely on the same way they rely on Bloomberg today. The race is on to build it. At Doormat, we’re designing the crypto terminal that actually makes sense—fast, intuitive, and built for degens who need an edge.
automate complexity, help traders access everything in one place
efficient execution and instant data, help traders react instantly to the 24/7 markets
reward users for everything, give them points that are actually worth something (aka tokens)
Trading terminals shape the way markets evolve. The question isn’t whether that platform will exist—it’s who will build it. At Doormat, we’re making the moves to answer that question. If you're interested in joining this mission, reach out to us! We're always looking for people to join the team.
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