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 worldโs biggest centralized exchanges (CEXs), Binance and Coinbase, faced backlash over allegations of millionaire fee requirements for token listing. On Thursday, Moonrock Capitalโs 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 projectโs team detailed that they received a listing offer from Binance after โwasting over a year of due diligenceโ with the exchange.
Nonetheless, the crypto exchange allegedly requested 15% of the tokenโs supply to secure the listing. Dedic expressed his concern about โpaying $50-100M just for a CEX listing,โ as it would be unaffordable for most projects, and the donated token supply is โthe 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 โhave to pay for it.โ
However, controversy arose when Coinbaseโs co-founder and CEO Brian Armstrong replied to Dedicโs X post. Armstrong seemingly took a jab at Binance by stating that asset listings on Coinbase were free.
Sonic Labsโ founder, Andre Cronje, refuted Armstrongโs 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, Tronโs founder Justin Sun shared a similar story. Sun declared that Coinbaseโs claims were โsimply not true,โ as the CEX had required them to pay 500 million TRX, worth around $80 million, and โdemanded a $250 million BTC deposit in Coinbase Custody to boost their performance.โ
Sunโs 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 โquote attacksโ within the industry.
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 โBitcoin never paid any listing fees.โ Sun agreed with CZ, stating, โFocusing 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 wonโt get listed if it doesnโt pass the screening process, and the exchange doesnโt charge a โso-called 20%โ fee. Yi He also remarked that the exchangeโs listing rules are โtransparent and clear,โ including the airdrop rules for Binanceโs Launchpool. Ultimately, she urged the community to do their research when controversy sparks.
Binance Coin (BNB) trades at $560 in the three-day chart. Source: BNBUSDT on TradingView
Featured Image from Unsplash.com, Chart from TradingView.com
www.Asciminerbulk.com