Despite its claims to the contrary, Coinbase, one of the leading cryptocurrency exchanges, is allegedly charging exorbitant fees for token listings. Well-known individuals like Andre Cronje, the founder of the Fantom Network, and Justin Sun, the founder of Tron, have both claimed that Coinbase demanded large sums of money in order to list their projects, raising questions about the exchange’s transparency regarding listing procedures.
According to Justin Sun, Coinbase asked for a total of about $330 million in order to list TRX. Coinbase Custody will hold a $250 million Bitcoin deposit in addition to 500 million TRX tokens, valued at approximately $80 million. He said that Coinbase’s demands were surprising and compared this to Binance, which allegedly didn’t charge any listing costs for TRX.
Coinbase had offered a range of prices for listing Fantom’s FTM coin over time, from $30 million to as much as $300 million, according to Andre Cronje, who shared similar experiences. Cronje pointed out that there was no fee for listing FTM on Binance, indicating a significant divergence in strategy between the two main exchanges. Cronje also pointed out that although Coinbase claims to offer free asset listings, the prices for associated services like Earn and Custody appear to indicate extra expenses that projects must pay in order to obtain a listing.
In a public statement, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong reaffirmed that asset listings on the platform are free. He advised project managers to contact the company for more information if necessary. However, other members of the cryptocurrency community expressed similar frustrations in response to Armstrong’s comments. Some speculated that Coinbase’s Earn program, an optional feature that charges for user education initiatives, might be the source of the costs. Earn fees are distinct from the listing procedure and shouldn’t affect a project’s eligibility for a listing, according to former Coinbase programmer Luke Youngblood.
These recent allegations are fueling discussions over the function of centralized exchanges in cryptocurrencies and the potential financial obstacles for new initiatives. Large listing fees, according to critics, put undue pressure on new initiatives, possibly prompting them to look into decentralized exchanges (DEXs) as alternatives. Because decentralized exchanges don’t charge listing fees, projects can join the market without having to make significant financial commitments.
Given that these claims have rekindled interest in DEXs, industry watchers think a more significant change may be imminent. The cryptocurrency community is increasingly calling for centralized exchanges to adopt more equitable policies, highlighting the transparency and cost advantages of decentralized platforms.
