Over the weekend, Binance and Coinbase were accused of asking for millionaire fees for token listing, igniting a discussion about listing requirements, exchange rivalry, and FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt). Several industry figures weighed in on the matter, including Justin Sun, Brian Armstrong, and Changpeng Zhao, who denied the claims on Monday.

Binance Vs. Coinbase Listing Fee Controversy

Two of the worldโ€™s biggest centralized exchanges (CEXs), Binance and Coinbase, faced backlash over allegations of millionaire fee requirements for token listing. On Thursday, Moonrock Capitalโ€™s CEO, Simon Dedic, shared his concerns regarding some CEXsโ€™ listing requirements.

In an X post, Dedic explained that he recently spoke to a Tier 1 project that raised nearly nine figures. The projectโ€™s team detailed that they received a listing offer from Binance after โ€œwasting over a year of due diligenceโ€ with the exchange.

Nonetheless, the crypto exchange allegedly requested 15% of the tokenโ€™s supply to secure the listing. Dedic expressed his concern about โ€œpaying $50-100M just for a CEX listing,โ€ as it would be unaffordable for most projects, and the donated token supply is โ€œthe biggest reason for bleeding charts.โ€

Moonrock Capital's CEO raises concerns about listing requirements. Source: Simon on X

Many community members discussed whether the listing fee requirement needed to change. One user argued that if a project wanted to be distributed in a CEX, they should โ€œhave to pay for it.โ€

However, controversy arose when Coinbaseโ€™s co-founder and CEO Brian Armstrong replied to Dedicโ€™s X post. Armstrong seemingly took a jab at Binance by stating that asset listings on Coinbase were free.

Sonic Labsโ€™ founder, Andre Cronje, refuted Armstrongโ€™s claim and revealed that the exchange allegedly asked the company for a listing fee several times. Per the post, Coinbase requested up to $300 million from Sonic Labs, while Binance charged the project $0.

Backing Cronje, Tronโ€™s founder Justin Sun shared a similar story. Sun declared that Coinbaseโ€™s claims were โ€œsimply not true,โ€ as the CEX had required them to pay 500 million TRX, worth around $80 million, and โ€œdemanded a $250 million BTC deposit in Coinbase Custody to boost their performance.โ€

Sunโ€™s remarks fueled the ongoing discussion, with many users questioning his claim. Others suggested that his experience with Binance might differ from other projects as the listing happened years ago.

Binance Co-Founders Deny The Allegations

On Monday, Changpeng Zhao, also known as CZ, thanked Sun for his support. The former CEO noted the importance of the validation from someone who runs two competing exchanges. However, he expressed his concern about the โ€œquote attacksโ€ within the industry.

Binance

Zhao responds to listing fee allegations. Source: CZ on X

Zhao urged his peers to reduce these attacks and asked teams to work on their projects to secure a listing instead of focusing on the exchanges. Moreover, he highlighted that โ€œBitcoin never paid any listing fees.โ€ Sun agreed with CZ, stating, โ€œFocusing on building projects and Bitcoin is what truly matters.โ€

Yi He, co-founder and Chief Customer Service Officerย at Binance, also denied the allegations, calling them FUD:

FUD will never go away, but it makes us stronger. Gossip is easy to get traffic, and business competition is always full of dark sides; When you understand the rules of how the world works, you will no longer be easily swayed by rumors, and you will have the ability to think independently.

She explained that a project wonโ€™t get listed if it doesnโ€™t pass the screening process, and the exchange doesnโ€™t charge a โ€œso-called 20%โ€ fee. Yi He also remarked that the exchangeโ€™s listing rules are โ€œtransparent and clear,โ€ including the airdrop rules for Binanceโ€™s Launchpool. Ultimately, she urged the community to do their research when controversy sparks.

BNB, BNBUSDT, binance

Binance Coin (BNB) trades at $560 in the three-day chart. Source: BNBUSDT on TradingView

Featured Image from Unsplash.com, Chart from TradingView.com

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