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Binance founder Changpeng "CZ" Zhao has waded into the exchange’s listing fee controversy, which is causing a stir in the online cryptocurrency space. In a post to state his opinion, CZ insisted on market freedom and project accountability.
CZ sends crucial message to critics
For clarity, following U.Today’s report on the comments by a lead developer at Coinbase, Jesse Pollack, criticizing Binance, Zhao felt the need to break his silence. Pollack had stated that Binance’s model was expensive and extractive, calling on the exchange to make listing cost 0%. He considers Coinbase’s approach better and a contribution to supporting projects in the crypto space.
However, CZ maintains that in a decentralized space, debates about listing fees, airdrop requirements and exchange listing policies are unnecessary. He argued that strong crypto projects do not need to pay exchanges to be listed; rather, they attract listing due to their trading volume and user count.
This suggests that every exchange is free to choose its own business model. Generally, the adapted model is what works for the exchange concerned. Zhao emphasized that if a project has to beg an exchange to get listed, it implies that it lacks real demand among users and is not strong enough.
"If your project is strong, exchanges will race to list your coin. If you have to beg an exchange to list, then... You need to ask yourself why, and who is providing value to whom," he stated.
CZ advised developers to stop blaming Binance and focus on building good projects that exchanges compete to list for free.
He also charged other exchanges to stop attacking competitors’ business models. CZ noted that the only way to compete in a decentralized industry is to offer better services to users.
"Make your own listing fees 0, and be happy. In fact, why not set all your fees to 0? Including trading fees?" he asked.
Major advice for exchanges
The Binance founder mentioned PancakeSwap as an example of a platform with no listing fees but with strong trading volume. This shows that different models work in the decentralized crypto space.
CZ explained that exchanges prioritize and balance inclusivity, safety and profitability. Hence, an exchange could decide to "list everything" only to discover that most are fraudulent scam projects or outright failures.
An exchange could decide to charge listing fees as a way to make revenue or conduct selective listing with airdrops or security deposits. Zhao said this is done to protect users and ensure only genuine and serious projects make it to the exchange.
Dan Burgin
Vladislav Sopov
U.Today Editorial Team