Binance accused accepting tokens from projects in exchange for platform listings. Controversy sparks debate

Over the weekend, Binance and Coinbase were accused of asking millionaire fees for token listing, igniting a discussion about the transparency of listing requirements.

Several industry figures have weighed in on the matter, including Justin Sun, Brian Armstrong and Changpeng Zhao, who denied the claim on Monday.

Coinbase caught for its hypocrisy

On Thursday, Moonrock Capital's CEO, Simon Dedic shared in an x post, where he claimed to have spoken to a Tier 1 project who allegedly accused Binance of requesting 15% of the token's supply for the project to secure its listing on the Binance platform.

Dedic expressed concern over the fact that a company can demand a whopping $50-100M just for a CEM listing, as this would be unaffordable for most projects, and such a practice is the biggest contributor of the disruption of the prices of certain cryptocurrencies, or in Dedic's words, "bleeding charts."

Coinbase's co-founder and CEO Brian Armstrong, was quick to post his thoughts on the incident. In an X post he said "Asset listings on Coinbase are free," which seems to be a Armstrong's way of sneakily throwing a curve ball at Binance.

But Armstrong's dig on Binance quickly backfired after Sonic's Labs' founder, Andre Cronje, called Coinbase doing exactly what Binance did - demanding a sum of money for their project's listing. According to the post, Coinbase requested up to $300 million from Sonic Labs, while Binance charged the project $0.

Justin Sun also showed his support for Biannce by proving his own encounter with Coinbase, saying

"Binance charged us $0. Coinbase required us to pay $500 million TRX and demanded a $250 million BTC deposit to boost their performance"

Binance Co-founders deny the allegations

On Monday, CZ (Changpeng Zhao) came forward to thank Sun for his support, noting that gaining the support from someone who ran two competing exchanges is quite a feat. But in his post, he also stressed the importance of reducing these types of "quote attacks" in the industry. He adds that teams should work on their projects to secure listing instead of focusing on the exchanges.

The Co-founder and Chief Customer Service Officer at Binance, Yi He, also stood out to deny the allegations, calling these claims FUD.(Acronym for Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt.)

In her X post, she wrote that FUD will never go away, but it will make us stronger. She clarified that all projects would have to first go through a screening before they are listing, so rumours of using a so-called 20% fee are just not true.

Yi He also remarked that the exchange's listing rules are transparent and clear, including the airdrop rules for Binance's Launchpool. Ultimately, she urged the community to do their research when controversy sparks.

CEX continues to dominate despite controversies

Despite all the controversies surrounding Binance and Coinbase, CEXs like Binance and Coinbase continue to dominate the trading landscape. According to Messari's data, for instance, these exchanges (CEX) account for approximately 90-95% of the total volume.

Currently, CEXs commands a share of $17.27 billion, representing 94.52% of the total $18.27 billion volume. Meanwhile, DEXs contribute $1 billion, or 5.48%.

With the crypto community calling for greater transparency and fairness, the ongoing debate between CEXs and DEXs can greatly affect the future of digital asset trading.