- Simon Dedic highlights excessive costs; Binance demands 15% of token supplies, costing projects up to $100 million.
- Binance defends its practices, ensures listing decisions are based on strict criteria, not financial incentives or offers.
The recent debate over the cost of cryptocurrency listings on centralized exchanges (CEXs) has highlighted significant concerns about financial barriers in the crypto market.
Simon Dedic, CEO of Moonrock Capital, recently disclosed that Binance had requested 15% of a project’s total token supply to list a major project, equating to between $50 and $100 million. This incident underscores the challenges new tokens face when trying to enter established trading platforms.
I recently spoke with a Tier 1 project that raised close to nine figures.
After wasting over a year of due diligence with Binance, they finally received a listing offer.
Binance asked for 15% of their total token supply.
Imagine paying $50–$100M just for a CEX listing.
Not…
— Simon (@sjdedic) October 31, 2024
In response to these allegations, Binance’s co-founder, Yi He, asserted that their platform’s listing process is based solely on rigorous screening criteria, independent of financial considerations. Binance also noted that since 2018, all listing fees have been transparent and donated to charity, emphasizing their commitment to ethical practices.
#FUD If a project does not pass the screening process, it cannot be listed on Binance regardless of the amount of money or tokens involved.
#DYOR Binance has listed projects in the token distribution column, please analyze the percentage to know if there is a so-called 20%.… https://t.co/LYt3GU7PMT— Yi He (@heyibinance) November 3, 2024
The discussion extends to other platforms, such as Coinbase, where CEO Brian Armstrong denied the practice of charging for listings and promoted decentralized exchanges (DEXs) as a more accessible alternative.
Asset listings on Coinbase are free – drop us a note through our Asset Hub and we'll see if we can helphttps://t.co/Weoa8MhLeq
And yes, DEXes are also a great option (which we support in our products). https://t.co/cjp0Avu4uC
— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) November 2, 2024
Contrary to Armstrong’s statements, Andre Cronje of Sonic Labs indicated that Coinbase had proposed significant fees for listings on their platform, a claim echoed by other industry participants regarding both Binance and Coinbase.
These issues highlight the friction between CEXs and DEXs, with DEXs gaining favor for their lower costs and perceived fairness. The transparency of listing fees and the integrity of the approval process are central to this debate.
Binance charged us $0.
Coinbase has asked us for; $300m, $50m, $30m, and more recently $60m.
Lots of respect. But this is simply not true.
— Andre Cronje (@AndreCronjeTech) November 3, 2024
The crypto community’s push for clearer and more equitable practices speaks to the broader need for transparency in the financial operations of CEX.
As the industry evolves, this dialogue between developers, exchange operators, and regulators will likely shape the standards for listing and trading digital assets.
The ongoing scrutiny of CEXs suggests a pivotal moment in the crypto market, emphasizing the necessity for practices that foster innovation and ensure broad market access.
