Original | Odaily Planet Daily (@OdailyChina)
Author | Wenser (@wenser 2010 )
On November 3, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong retweeted a tweet by Moonrock Capital CEO Simon complaining about the high listing fees of centralized exchanges on November 1, and stated: "Listing on Coinbase is free, and you can request help through the Asset Hub. Also, yes, listing on DEXs is a good option too (we support that in our products)."
This statement has sparked a heated discussion, with many industry players expressing different views. Some believe his attitude is sincere, while others think he is talking nonsense. Odaily Planet Daily will briefly analyze the mystery of exchange listing fees in this article.
The Origin of the Listing Fee Discussion: Excessively High Token Allocation, Distorted Listing Fee Model
The story began with a tweet by Moonrock Capital CEO Simon, in which he mentioned:
Recently, I communicated with a primary project that raised nearly $100 million.
After more than a year of due diligence on Binance, they finally received a listing offer.
Binance demanded 15% of the total token supply.
Imagine having to pay $50-100 million just to list on an exchange, not only is this cost unbearable for the project, but these token allocations are also the main reason for the bleeding of market liquidity. Some things need to change.
After the news broke, the market had mixed reactions. Some believed that the token allocation percentage for listing fees is reasonable, as Binance needs to review potentially worthless token projects and distribute them to BNB holders and Launchpool participants; others agreed that DEXs will surpass CEXs and gain a larger market share; and some bluntly stated that "in our observation, listing on Binance has harmed many projects, simply put, it's not worth it."
In summary, most project parties in the market have a negative view of the high exchange listing fees, believing that centralized exchanges represented by Binance are "bleeding the market," but many retail investors believe this is necessary, as it means Binance will "benefit the people." There are also many who took this opportunity to discuss the "listing fee" model, which appears distorted during non-bull market periods, and believe it has become the "best tool" for exchanges to extract market liquidity.
Subsequently, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong "joined the battlefield" and posted that "Coinbase has always had free listings." This statement immediately stirred up the industry OGs, who spoke out, even with a hint of "scolding him for blatant lies."
Industry Figures Speak Up: The Facts and Statements Are at Odds, Is Coinbase "Deceiving" People?
Brian's statement was clearly not agreed upon by everyone, with comments on his tweet from people including Sonic Labs co-founder Andre Cronje, TRON founder Justin Sun, and Runestone founder Leonidas; the "party involved" previously, Binance co-founder He Yi, also subsequently expressed his own views and explanations.
AC Says "Coinbase Charges Too Much"
According to AC's comment, "Binance did not charge us a listing fee, but Coinbase has repeatedly requested fees, with quotes of $300 million, $50 million, $30 million, and the most recent quote was $60 million."
Subsequently, some former Coinbase employees and Moonwell builders responded that he may have contacted fake Coinbase listing staff, and suspected that Sonic Labs' due diligence was not thorough enough. AC also bluntly responded again, saying: "I did not sign any non-disclosure agreements, so I would be happy to provide relevant evidence (the quotes came from multiple Coinbase employees/departments, communicated via email, Telegram and Slack over the years), now it can be said for sure that Coinbase may argue that this is not a listing fee, but other fees, but this will still be translated into the project's listing cost. I know Coinbase may make some legal cuts, but I'm happy to publish all the evidence and let the public judge."
Justin Sun Says "Coinbase Demands a Huge Sum"
Around 2 pm, TRON founder and Huobi HTX Global Advisory Committee member Justin Sun posted regarding the Coinbase listing fee controversy: "Binance charged us $0, while Coinbase demanded that we pay 500 million TRX (worth about $80 million) and required us to deposit $250 million in BTC in Coinbase Custody to improve its performance. I have great respect for Coinbase and the CEO, but what they said is not true."
It is clear that Justin Sun also disagrees with Brian's statements, believing that compared to Binance, Coinbase's listing requirements are more outrageous, bordering on "a huge sum."
He Yi Says "Token Allocation Percentage Is Considered for Users"
After AC's comment tweet was posted, Binance co-founder He Yi responded:
If a project does not pass the screening process, no matter how much money or what percentage of tokens, it cannot be listed on Binance.
#DYOR - The projects listed on Binance all have clear introductions to the token allocation percentages, you can analyze the percentages yourself to see if there is the so-called 20%, 15% or whatever.
#Airdrop - The airdrop rules on Binance's Launchpool and other listing airdrops are transparent and clear, but that doesn't mean that projects willing to do airdrops can all be listed on Binance. If you have 20% of the tokens and want to cooperate with Binance on airdrops, welcome to work with our Web3 wallet.
FUD will never disappear, but let's get stronger. Gossip is easy to get traffic, 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 thus have the ability to think independently. People like AC who dare to tell the truth in the noise are the ones truly worthy of respect in the community.
Coinbase VS Binance Listing Explanation Document: The former focuses on "free", while the latter focuses on "charity + transparency"
In May 2022, Coinbase Chief Product Officer (CPO) Surojit Chatterjee released the Coinbase Listing Announcement, and in comparison, Binance previously released the Binance Coin Listing Suggestion announcement on June 15, 2021, and updated it on January 2, 2024, which shows that Binance attaches more importance to it.
In terms of the details of the content, the Coinbase announcement mentioned that the asset free evaluation and listing process mainly includes 4 steps, with the focus on "free listing":
Application. Asset issuers first create an account in our Asset Hub, and then submit an application containing all relevant information about their asset.
Evaluation. Coinbase's Digital Asset Listing Group (DALG) uses ourstandard listing evaluation framework to evaluate the information submitted through Asset Hub, to ensure the asset meets our legal, compliance and technical security review requirements.
Listing. Once approved by DALG and integrated with our platform, the asset can be listed on our exchange. Listing on the exchange does not mean that Coinbase endorses the asset, but rather that it meets Coinbase's listing requirements.
Monitoring. We will continuously monitor all assets within the exchange, and if these assets no longer meet our requirements, or new information emerges, we may delist these assets from the exchange.
From the level of detail in the content explanation and the various considerations, Binance's token listing management regulations are undoubtedly more refined and proceduralized than Coinbase's. As for the listing regulations for each project, there may also be different implementation plans, and we also look forward to Binance providing clearer and more explicit explanations in the future.Listing Fees
We will donate all the listing fees to the 100% transparent Binance Charity Foundation, and you can track the flow of funds on the blockchain.
Tip 25: There is no limit on the number of tokens, please submit the amount you think is appropriate. The number of tokens can demonstrate your willingness to bring a positive impact to the industry.
Summary: Listing fees may gradually evolve into "project marketing expenses + community user rewards"
Overall, the market's discussion on exchange listing fees mainly focuses on:1) Is the token allocation ratio reasonable?
2) Is the listing fee standard within the project's affordability?
3) Is the final destination of the listing fee providing certain returns to the project users and the exchange's actual users?
Given the continuous challenges to exchange liquidity and the repeated new highs in DEX trading volume, perhaps gradually evolving it from "protection fees unilaterally collected by the exchange" to "project marketing expenses + community user rewards" would be a better development direction. As for the matter mentioned by AC in the previous text of "considering providing relevant proof to explain the Coinbase listing fee", Odaily will continue to track the subsequent dynamics to provide readers with the latest and most effective information.
