Revelation Of Varying Fees Lead To Controversy Surrounding Binance And Coinbase

Over the weekend, a major controversy erupted surrounding Binance and Coinbase, two of the largest centralized cryptocurrency exchanges, after accusations that they were demanding excessive listing fees.

The issue came to light when Simon Dedic, CEO of Moonrock Capital, questioned the listing practices of these exchanges. Dedic claimed that a Tier 1 project, which had raised nearly nine figures in capital, faced difficulties when trying to list on Binance.

The Controversy Continues

According to Dedic, after a lengthy due diligence process, Binance allegedly requested that the project give up 15% of its token supply in exchange for a listing. This fee, which could range anywhere between $50 million to $100 million, sparked significant debate within the crypto community, with many questioning whether such high charges were warranted.

The controversy intensified when Coinbase CEO, Brian Armstrong, responded to Dedic by asserting that Coinbase did not charge listing fees. This statement prompted a quick rebuttal by Andre Cronje, founder of Sonic Labs, who alleged that Coinbase had demanded up to $300 million in listing fees by his company.

Cronje also pointed out that Binance did not impose any fees on Sonic Labs. Supporting Cronje, Tron founder Justin Sun shared his own experience, revealing that Coinbase had requested 500 million TRX tokens (worth around $80 million) and a $250 million deposit in BTC for Coinbase Custody. These revelations raised concerns about potential inconsistencies in how different projects were treated.

Call For Unity

On Monday, former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) responded, expressing appreciation for what Sun had to say but advising against fueling public disputes within the industry. He stressed that projects should focus on development rather than prioritizing exchange listings, citing Bitcoin as an example, as it never paid any listing fees. Sun agreed, reinforcing that building strong projects was the key to success.

Binance co-founder Yi He also addressed the accusations, dismissing them as unfounded and urging the community to rely on factual research rather than rumors. She emphasized that the listing criteria for Binance are transparent and clear before outright rejecting the notion of a 20% listing fee.